Oklahoma’s Homefield Advantage Wasn’t Enough
The homefield advantage that Oklahoma created — one that included a pregame lights show, a halftime drone show and, yes, a surprise 50 Cent show before the fourth quarter — riled the Sooners up so much that fans on social media signed Alabama’s death certificate before the game’s midpoint had even arrived.
That’s what homefield advantages are designed to do, though, and that’s what the current iteration of the College Football Playoff created when it shifted toward a 12-team format prior to last season that gave teams seeded five-through-eight a chance to host postseason games on campus.
That, given the impact that a ferocious and friendly crowd can have on college football games, is a scenario that any of the four previous Sooners teams that played in the playoff would’ve thirsted for.
That’s the opportunity that Oklahoma got.
The Game
The No. 8 Sooners lost 34-24 to No. 9 Alabama in the first round of the playoff at Memorial Stadium Friday night. They’re now winless in five trips to the postseason and, despite meaningful improvements in Venables’ fourth season at the helm, the Sooners (10-3) ended their first trip to the new postseason in the same manner it ended those of old.
The Sooners tied their own record for the largest blown lead in playoff history when they coughed up a 17-0 lead staked midway through the second quarter. They also blew a 17-point lead against Georgia in the 2018 Rose Bowl (the only other playoff game in which they’ve been the higher seed) and suffered a double overtime loss because of it.
The original postseason format was chucked prior to last year in an effort to create more parity, welcome a dozen competitors and avoid lopsided semifinals on neutral sites. The Sooners were theoretical beneficiaries in the second year of the 12-team bracket and, as opposed to a date with an undefeated behemoth in Miami, Atlanta or Pasadena, Calif., they drew a somewhat-suspect Crimson Tide team that they’d beaten once already six weeks ago in front of 83,550 boisterous Normanites in a first-round game that the four home teams swept in last year’s tournament.
The First Half
Darned if the Sooners didn’t look ready to make it five-for-five, too, with how they opened. They scored 17 points before the Crimson Tide (11-3) recorded a single first down. Quarterback John Mateer, a Little Elm alum, looked relatively healthy and relatively comfortable on the ground and through the air to start.
He threw 186 of his 307 yards in the first two quarters, danced around Alabama defenders for an 8-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and played patient football to find wide receiver Isaiah Sategna III wide open in the endzone for a 7-yard touchdown in the second.
The Oklahoma defense, which Venables described as a “forcefield,” resembled the unit that dragged the Sooners into the postseason in the first place and held the Crimson tide to all of 100 first-half yards.
The Second Half
“We had great momentum,” Venables said. “We lost the momentum.”
The Crimson Tide struck back, finally, with a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that made it a 10-point game two minutes into the second quarter. They made it a one-score game on a field goal gifted to them by a blocked punt in Oklahoma territory.
They tied it with two minutes to play before halftime when Mateer underthrew wide receiver Keontez Lewis down the left sidelined and tossed a ghastly interception that was returned by Alabama cornerback Zabien Brown for a touchdown.
Offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle described it as an “execution error,” which he took accountability for. Mateer said that the defense “tricked” him with how the coverage was disguised when he checked at the line of scrimmage.
Aftermath
“It happens sometimes, when you get tricked, that you’ve got to mitigate the damage,” Mateer said. “I didn’t do it.”
It in turn burnt the homefield advantage that the Sooners worked a season to earn and a quarter-plus of football to fortify.
“Next thing you know,” Venables said through a gritted smile, “it’s 17-17 going into half.”
And, next thing you know, the Crimson Tide scored again on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Simpson to wide receiver Lotzeir Brooks to take a 24-17 lead with 11:21 left in the third quarter.
The Sooners scored once more, on a 37-yarder from Mateer to wide receiver Deion Burks at the start of the fourth quarter, but finished the game with two punts and two missed field goals from Lou Groza award-winning kicker Tate Sandell.
Conclusion
The offense, Mateer said, got “out of sync” after a first half in which it seemed to shake the notions of inefficiency that dogged it all season. Mateer was without a run game (the Sooners averaged 0.4 yards per carry in the second half) after halftime and pressured hard by Alabama’s defense because of it.
Oklahoma’s defense still held Alabama to just 160 yards, a 16% third-down conversion rate and 1.6 yards per carry in the second half.
“We couldn’t complement each other when we needed to the most,” Venables said, “and make the plays that we needed to and have made all season.”
It’s not that there weren’t micro missed opportunities compressed into the macro one. Mateer missed a walk-in touchdown on Oklahoma’s first drive when he overlooked a wide-open Jaren Kanek on a seam route and instead tried for a checkdown.
Frequently Asked Questions
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