Oklahoma's Special Teams has Rare Off Night in College Football Playoff loss to Alabama

NORMAN — Oklahoma’s season came to a crushing end Friday with a 34-24 loss to Alabama in the first round of the College Football Playoff at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

The Sooners’ were humming along on offense, defense and special teams early, building a big lead before things collapsed.

The positional grades after the loss reflect much of those struggles, though there were some limited bright spots.

Here’s a position-by-position report card on the Sooners’ CFP loss:

Quarterback: C

John Mateer had his moments, but even in the early going where the Sooners were up 17-0, there were still concerning signs.

A couple plays before his 8-yard touchdown run put OU on the board, Mateer badly missed a wide open Javonnie Gibson on what almost surely would’ve been a touchdown.

Mateer also threw a completion short of a first down on a play where he had plenty of room to scramble for the first down.

Then there was the backbreaking interception just before halftime that was returned 50 yards by Zabien Brown for a touchdown to tie the game.

Mateer did some good things, to be sure, with nine passes of 15 or more yards including fourth-quarter completions of 37 and 38 yards, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the shortcomings.

Running Backs: C-

Tory Blaylock and Xavier Robinson shared duties in the backfield, though Robinson was clearly still not 100%.

Neither were very effective on the ground, with no carries longer than six yards as they combined for just 40 yards on 14 carries.

Blaylock finished with 36 yards on 11 carries.

Blaylock did have five catches for 36 yards and Robinson had a key 17-yard catch but it wasn’t nearly enough.

Robinson had a critical drop late in the second quarter, not long before a blocked punt.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: B-

Deion Burks had his biggest game of the season with seven catches for 107 yards and a touchdown.

But Isaiah Sategna, the Sooners’ No. 1 receiver all season, wasn’t much of a factor at all.

Sategna finished with two catches for 17 yards, though he did score a touchdown.

Jer’Michael Carter (three catches, 46 yards) and Javonnie Gibson (two, 41) made some big plays as well.

The Sooners spread the ball around as good as they had all season, but they couldn’t manage a truly explosive play until the fourth quarter.

Offensive Line: C-

It was going to be uphill, with Febechi Nwaiwu having to start at center with Jake Maikkula out, and three freshmen starting on the line.

Alabama sacked Mateer five times.

Two of Oklahoma’s five penalties were on the offensive line, including an unsportsmanlike conduct call on Eddy Pierre Louis late in the first quarter that forced the Sooners to settle for a 51-yard Tate Sandell field goal instead of having third-and-4 from the Alabama 29 with a chance to make it 14-0.

Ryan Fodje was later called for a false start.

Defensive Line: B+

R Mason Thomas was the only one of the Sooners’ three primary defensive ends without a sack, though he certainly made an impact.

He was in on the tackle on the first play and later had a quarterback hurry.

Taylor Wein and Marvin Jones Jr. had two of the Sooners’ four sacks of Ty Simpson.

OU had just seven tackles for loss and outside of the sacks, only one of those came from a defensive lineman — Jayden Jackson recorded one.

Linebackers: B

Owen Heinecke had another big game, with a team-high seven tackles with a sack, two tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry.

Kendal Daniels and Kip Lewis had four tackles each, with Lewis registering a sack and two tackles for loss.

Secondary: B-

The Sooners held Germie Bernard and Ryan Williams to just four catches for 45 yards, which they gladly would’ve taken before the game.

And more than half of those yards — 24 — came on one play. That was Bernard’s fourth-quarter catch where he wrestled the ball away from Jacobe Johnson to set up Daniel Hill’s 6-yard touchdown two plays later.

But freshman receiver Lotzeir Brooks made a big impact, with five catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns on seven targets.

Freshman Courtland Guillory made a couple solid plays, but he was called for a holding penalty that eliminated what would’ve been an Alabama punt. The Crimson Tide eventually too a 27-17 lead after the drive on a field goal.

Special Teams: D-

It was a rare off night for the Sooners’ special teams.

Lou Groza Award winner Tate Sandell missed two late field goals — though the first was REALLY close — and Grayson Miller struggled, helping the Crimson Tide put points on the board.

Sandell hit an earlier 51-yarder but missed a 36-yarder with just less than three minutes remaining.

The ball initially looked good, but officials ruled it had crossed over the upright, making it no good.

The Sooners sent Sandell out for a 51-yarder with 1:18 remaining, but the kick was just short.

The usually steady Miller made a critical mistake in the second quarter.

Miller dropped the ball for the punt but it was too far ahead of him and the ball fell to the turf. Miller scrambled to pick it up, but his kick was blocked by Tim Keenan III to give the Crimson Tide the ball at the OU 30.

Then when the Sooners needed a big punt from him, Miller managed just 32 yards early in the fourth to give Alabama the ball at the OU 35.

Four plays later, the Crimson Tide were up 34-24.

Isaiah Sategna had just one punt return for 17 yards and the Sooners had no kick returns.

Sandell’s 51-yard first-quarter field goal tied the FBS record for 50-plus yard field goals in a season with eight.

Tennessee’s Fuad Reveiz also hit eight in 1982.