Defense, Special Teams Shine in Positional Report Card Following Oklahoma's Win Over Alabama

Oklahoma’s path to a victory in one of the top environments in college football, against one of the top teams in college football, might’ve been narrow.

But the 11th-ranked Sooners navigated that path Saturday, forcing three turnovers and coming up with several critical defensive plays late to help OU pull off a 23-21 win over No. 4 Alabama on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

There was plenty — primarily on offense — that wasn’t pretty for the Sooners, but Brent Venables’ defense was glistening.

Despite being outgained by nearly 200 yards, Oklahoma brought its College Football Playoff hopes into focus with the victory.

Wins against Missouri and LSU in the final two games of the regular season — both at home — would send the Sooners to the playoff for the first time since 2019.

Oklahoma’s position-by-position grades for Saturday’s game reflect the disparity on both sides of the ball.

Quarterback: B

John Mateer made what could've been a critical mistake late, throwing a third-down pass into the feet of an offensive lineman while two Crimson Tide pass rushers were bearing down on him, drawing a flag for intentional grounding that took the Sooners out of field-goal range.

Luckily for Mateer and the Sooners, the defense wound up bailing him out.

Mateer’s numbers weren’t fantastic, throwing for 138 yards on 15 of 23 passing with 23 yards rushing.

But Mateer kept the offense largely out of trouble, though there were a couple near interceptions among those eight incompletions.

His early 20-yard touchdown run helped bolster the Sooners’ confidence early after a big special teams play gave OU a short field.

Running Backs: C-

Xavier Robinson came into the game coming off back-to-back 100-plus yard games, and was a big part of the Sooners’ upset win over the Crimson Tide last season.

But the Sooners’ running game struggled throughout the game, outside of two rushes from non-running backs — a 21-yard run by Isaiah Sategna and Mateer’s 20-yard touchdown run early on.

OU running backs Robinson and Tory Blaylock combined for just 35 yards on 14 carries.

Robinson was banged up in the second half but returned late in the game.

He finished with 34 yards on 10 carries.

The Sooners finished with 74 yards rushing, averaging 2.6 yards per rush. The rushing total was OU’s third-lowest of the season.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: C+

The grades would be better if Isaiah Sategna’s special-teams play was considered here — we’ll get to that in a bit — but there were positives.

Jer’Michael Carter, who had just three catches for 19 yards this season, finished with three catches for a team-high 36 yards through the air against the Crimson Tide and Javonnie Gibson had a pair of catches for 26 yards including a big third-down catch early in the fourth quarter.

The Crimson Tide did a good job slowing down Sategna offensively, holding him to four catches for 26 yards and one 21-yard rush.

Sategna’s receiving yardage was his lowest since he had two catches for 16 yards in the season opener against Illinois State.

Offensive Line: B

This was a mixed bag, and maybe the grade is coming on a cruve after some of the struggles early this season.

The Sooners obviously had trouble running the ball, but the group still overall held their own against a touch Alabama front seven.

The young group helped mostly keep Mateer clean, as he was sacked just twice for 14 yards and allowed just four tackles for loss.

Michael Fasusi and Eddy Pierre-Louis were flagged for critical penalties in the fourth quarter.

Defensive Line: A+++

Even without R Mason Thomas and Jayden Jackson, the defensive line showed why they are the strength of the Sooners’ defense.

Marvin Jones Jr. sacked Ty Simpson on third down on the game’s opening drive, setting the tone for the game.

Taylor Wein, the other starter at defensive end with Thomas out, forced a fumble late that helped set up what proved to be the game-winning field goal.

Gracen Halton, Damonic Williams and David Stone all made key tackles from the interior of the line as the Sooners flashed their depth across the front.

Linebackers: A

Kip Lewis didn’t have a touchdown like he did in last year’s victory over Alabama, but Lewis was all over the field in Tuscaloosa.

Coming out of the two-minute timeout, Lewis broke through the line and brought down Simpson for an 11-yard loss that put the Crimson Tide in a difficult position facing second-and-21 from their own 33.

The sack was Lewis’ second of the game. He also had one on a blitz on the first play of the Crimson Tide’s second drive.

It wasn’t just Lewis.

Sammy Omosigho had six tackles, and he and Kendal Daniels each had fumble recoveries.

Oklahoma also benefitted from the return of Kobie McKinzie, who was injured early in the loss to Ole Miss and missed the Tennessee game.

McKinzie did have what could’ve been a critical error early, though, trying to pick up a fumble after Reggie Powers’ hit forced the ball free.

Alabama ultimately recovered the fumble to keep the ball with the Crimson Tide.

Secondary: B+

Simpson and the Alabama receiving corps had their wins against the OU secondary, most notably with Germie Benard’s seven catches for 71 yards and tight end Josh Cuevas’ six catches for 80 yards and a touchdown.

Simpson finished 29 of 42 for 326 yards, but the Sooners were able to disrupt Simpson in a way no defense had been able to this season.

A play after McKinzie’s near-recovery, Eli Bowen picked off Simpson to not only end what had been a promising Alabama drive but returned it 87 yards to give OU an early 10-0 lead.

Peyton Bowen broke up the Crimson Tide’s pass on fourth down that sealed the victory, and Devon Jordan came up with a huge third-down sack to force a punt just after the Sooners grabbed the lead for good.

Peyton Bowen, Sooners — Alabama Crimson Tide running back Daniel Hill (4) goes for a fumble against Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Kobie McKinzie (11) and defensive back Peyton Bowen (22) during the first half at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. on Saturday. | Gary Cosby-Imagn Images

Special Teams: A+

Tate Sandell just keeps doing ridiculous things.

Sandell was 3 for 3 on field goals Saturday, hitting a 52-yarder early in the third quarter, then hitting a 24-yarder early in the fourth that wound up giving OU the decisive points.

The UTSA transfer has now made a school-record 21 consecutive field goals since missing his first try of the season, and is looking like an excellent candidate to give the Sooners their first Lou Groza Award winner.

Sategna set the tone early with a 42-yard punt return to give OU a short field in its first drive and set up Sandell’s first field goal of the day.

Wein leaped over the Alabama offensive line and was able to get a finger on Conor Talty’s 36-yard field goal as time expired before halftime, helping knock the kick wide and sending the Sooners into halftime with the lead.

Punter Grayson Miller was once again excellent, averaging 46.7 yards on six punts with a long of 57 and three inside the 20.

Miller’s 46-yard punt in the fourth quarter helped pin Alabama at their own 6, making the final drive much more difficult.