{"id":83927,"date":"2025-12-18T10:00:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T15:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=83927"},"modified":"2025-12-18T00:34:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T05:34:48","slug":"cfp-first-round-oklahoma-hosts-alabama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/12\/18\/cfp-first-round-oklahoma-hosts-alabama\/","title":{"rendered":"CFP First Round, Oklahoma hosts Alabama"},"content":{"rendered":"
After four months, 14 weeks, and 113 days of regular-season football, the road to the end begins now. The 2025 College Football Playoff is here. This Friday kicks off the first round, as the 9th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide travels to Norman, Oklahoma, to face the 8th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners. This will be the second time the two SEC schools have played<\/a> each other this season. Oklahoma won the first meeting 23-21 in Tuscaloosa.<\/div>\n
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Now the matchup lies in Memorial Stadium, as Oklahoma looks to win its first playoff game ever. On the other hand, Alabama\u2019s head coach, Kalen DeBoer, looks to beat the Sooners for the first time. With a trip to the Rose Bowl on the line, everything is at stake on Friday. Here is a preview for Oklahoma vs. Alabama,<\/div>\n
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How To Watch:\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n
Date:<\/strong> Friday, December 19th<\/div>\n
Time:<\/strong> 8:00 p.m. ET<\/div>\n
TV:<\/strong> ABC.<\/div>\n

CFP First Round, Oklahoma vs. Alabama Preview<\/h2>\n

What Went Wrong for Alabama in November<\/h3>\n
In the first meeting, Alabama was the better team on offense, passing and running for more yards. Quarterback Ty Simpson<\/a> threw for 326 yards, which was almost 200 more than John Mateer<\/a> of Oklahoma. It was the mistakes on offense and special teams that cost the Tide the game. In the first half, Alabama had three special teams errors. A 42-yard punt return from Isaiah Sategna<\/a>, a muffed punt from Ryan Williams, and a missed field goal to end the half. All three of these and a pick-six by Eli Bowen<\/a> cost Alabama 20 points. Alabama can\u2019t afford to make the same mistakes early and give Oklahoma great field position.<\/div>\n

Oklahoma\u2019s Pass Rush and Turnover Game<\/h3>\n
In the first matchup, Oklahoma sacked Simpson four times, including a strip-sack by Taylor Wein<\/a> in the second half. They were able to do this without their lead pass rusher, R. Mason Thomas<\/a>, who is set to return Friday after missing three weeks. This season, Oklahoma leads the nation in sacks with 41, with Thomas leading the way with 6.5 sacks.<\/div>\n
Against the run, the Sooners are fifth in the nation, allowing 81.4 rushing yards per game. When they played Missouri<\/a>, they held Ahmad Hardy<\/a>, the second-highest rusher in the nation, to 57 yards. Lastly, their defense has forced multiple turnovers late in the season. This includes multiple interceptions against teams like Tennessee and Missouri. Still, the Sooners are negative two in the turnover margin, which leads to Oklahoma\u2019s biggest issue and concern, Mateer\u2019s ability to protect the ball.<\/div>\n
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Photo Credit: BRYAN TERRY\/THE OKLAHOMAN \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Can Mateer Limit the Turnovers and Exceed 200 Yards<\/h3>\n
Before playing LSU<\/a> three weeks ago, Mateer had only thrown one interception in five games. Against LSU, he threw three interceptions. That was the second time he had thrown three this season, having done so previously against Texas<\/a>. He can not afford to do that against a team like Alabama, which has a much better offense than LSU. The only positive for Mateer going into Friday is that he is more confident throwing, even if it results in an interception. Before LSU, he hadn\u2019t thrown for 300 yards since week one, but against LSU, he threw for 318 yards. If Mateer can find Sategna and Deion Burks<\/a> early, and while staying patient in the pocket, Oklahoma can play its best offensive game all season.<\/div>\n
Rushing Issues<\/div>\n
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Neither team has found success and consistency in the ground game all year. Alabama hasn’t rushed for over 100 yards against an FBS school since playing Tennessee in October. Against Georgia in the SEC championship<\/a>, Alabama ran for 21 yards on seven attempts with running backs AK Dear<\/a> and Daniel Hill<\/a>. Now with lead rusher Jam Miller<\/a> back this Friday, it\u2019s crucial for them to establish or even attempt to establish the running game.<\/div>\n
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For Oklahoma, it has been a mix of Xavier Robinson<\/a> and Tory Blaylock<\/a> all season. Both backs have had their moments, but lately neither has been able to get going. Against Missouri and LSU to end the season, neither back eclipsed 50 yards. The only positive in the run game has been Mateer, as he ran for 60 yards against Missouri. Still, Oklahoma has found a way to make it to the postseason without a consistent running game, so expect much of the same out of the run game.<\/div>\n

Key Players<\/h3>\n

Kip Lewis<\/a>, LB, Oklahoma<\/h3>\n
The Bowen brothers and Wein were the Sooners’ biggest playmakers on defense in the first matchup, but Lewis was just as dominant. He had two sacks in the game, one crucial one after the two-minute timeout. He also had seven solo tackles against the Tide. Last year, Lewis scored a late touchdown against Alabama<\/a>, putting an exclamation point on the game. Lewis leads the second level with 72 total tackles on the season, 35 of which were solo. Now that Thomas is back, the Oklahoma defense seems at its peak, and Lewis gets them to the next round.<\/div>\n

Germaine Bernard<\/a> and Isaiah Horton<\/a>, WRs, Alabama<\/h3>\n
Bernard and Horton have been the Tides’ most reliable receivers all season when it comes to finding the end zone. Bernard has nine total touchdowns, while Horton has eight. Against the Sooners, both guys had over 50 yards, but neither found the end zone. If Alabama wants to win on Friday, it will need to find either one of these guys in the back of the end zone.<\/div>\n

Key Injury<\/h3>\n

LT Overton<\/a>, DL Alabama<\/h3>\n
Overton was listed as out for Friday\u2019s game due to an illness or medical condition, per Coach DeBoer. Overton missed the SEC Championship game with the same conditions. Alabama wasn’t able to fill that hole against Georgia, but they will look for players like James Smith<\/a> and Tim Keenan II<\/a> to produce on the line against Oklahoma. Overton\u2019s replacement, Jordan Renaud,<\/a> will also need to produce, as he had a sack in the SEC Championship.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
For both teams, it will be a battle, as the first game was known for its physicality. In the end, the winner will be the team that forces more turnovers, creates more pressure in the backfield, and establishes early momentum. Personally, I believe the Tide straightens out their mistakes from their previous matchup and wins a close and low-scoring game. Still, Coach Brent Venables has Alabama\u2019s number in past playoffs, winning two national championships with Clemson.<\/div>\n
Once again, the winner is off to the Rose Bowl to face the number-one seed Indian Hoosiers on New Year’s Day. Stay tuned for future updates and previews on the playoffs. Enjoy the game and the remainder of the first round.<\/div>\n
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Main Photo: William Purnell-Imagn Images<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After four months, 14 weeks, and 113 days of regular-season football, the road to the end begins now. The 2025 College Football Playoff is here. This Friday kicks off the first round, as the 9th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide travels to Norman, Oklahoma, to face the 8th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners. This will be the second time the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5571,"featured_media":82581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7361,35574,2,17,35581,3],"tags":[1486,8115],"class_list":["post-83927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bowl-games","category-alabama-crimson-tide","category-featured","category-news","category-oklahoma-sooners","category-sec","tag-brent-venables","tag-kalen-deboer"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5571"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83927"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83978,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83927\/revisions\/83978"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}