‘I didn’t have what it took’ to beat Alabama
Oklahoma football suffered a devastating loss for Alabama in the opening round College Football Playoff. The Sooners jumped out to a 17-point lead early in the game. But Alabama fought back, tying the score at halftime and taking a 27-unanswered lead.
After the game, Oklahoma’s head coach Brent Venables he addressed a heartbreaking 34-24 loss. “Tonight, when we needed it the most, we just didn’t have what it took,” Venables said, per Sooners reporter George Stoya III. “Whether it was getting a stop, making a field goal, doing the basics well — shooting and catching and punting. We had a 17-point lead, we had a lot of momentum and we just lost momentum.”
Oklahoma jumped out to an early lead John Mateer’s rushing touchdown in the first quarter. The Sooners led 17-0 and appeared on their way to their second win over Alabama this season. But the Crimson Tide is back.
Mistakes doomed Oklahoma in the CFP
“Alabama has a really good football team, a really good staff. And they were able to start slowly but surely getting back into the game. And then we had a couple of mistakes that really took advantage,” Venables explained.
Tee Simpson got the Tide on the board with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Lotzeir Brooks. Alabama added a field goal before Zabien Brown tied the game on a 50-yard punt return for a touchdown.
Alabama would take a 27-17 lead into the fourth quarter. While Mateer found Deion Burks for a 37-yard touchdown, Oklahoma couldn’t quite recover. Alabama won 34-24 to advance to the Rose Bowl quarterfinals against Indiana.
“We just couldn’t dig out,” Venables said. “We couldn’t compliment each other when we needed to make the plays we needed to, and we did all season.
2025-12-20 06:41:00
