The Oklahoma defense stole the show on Saturday, spoiling a sold-out Alabama homecoming and snapping the Crimson Tide's nation-best 17-game home win streak in a 23-21 win over one of college football's premier teams.
The Sooners gave up 406 yards -- 326 of it through the air -- but the defense made the plays when it needed to, including forcing three costly Alabama turnovers and a potentially game-saving sack by linebacker Kip Lewis of quarterback Ty Simpson, pushing Alabama back 11 yards to its own 31-yard line on its final possession.
The Crimson Tide still had three downs to keep the drive alive, with just under two minutes left to go in the game, and get in position for a game-winning field-goal try, but a fourth-down pass by Simpson hit the ground incomplete at the feet of the intended receiver, turning the ball over to the Sooners on downs with 53 seconds remaining. Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer finished off the upset victory, kneeling down three times in victory formation.
OU cornerback Eli Bowen intercepted a pass and returned it 87 yards for a touchdown to give the Sooners a 10-0 first-quarter advantage. Oklahoma led 17-14 at the half, and Alabama mounted a scoring drive of 75 yards in seven plays midway through the third quarter to take its first lead in the game, 21-20. That set up the exciting fourth-quarter finish.
87-YARD PICK SIX‼️@EliBowen12 | 📺 ABC pic.twitter.com/vzVDocagWz
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) November 15, 2025
Oklahoma gained just 212 yards of total offense against Alabama, far off the 325 yards in the Sooners' win over the Crimson Tide last season in Norman. The last time Oklahoma produced as few as 212 yards of offense and won was in 2001 against Red River rival Texas, a game in which the Sooners gained just 206 yards, but capitalized on four Texas turnovers for a 14-3 victory.
Alabama entered the game on Saturday ranked No. 4 in the nation in turnover margin (+10) and had recorded just six turnovers in nine games. The Sooner defense forced half that total with three takeaways for the second straight week. They also had three takeaways in the road victory over then-No. 14 Tennessee three weeks ago.
The Sooners now own a 5-2-1 record in the overall series against Alabama and are 4-0 against the Crimson Tide in regular-season contests.
With two games remaining in the regular season, the win over the No. 4 Crimson Tide sent a strong message to the College Football Playoff selection committee. Win their next two games, against Missouri and LSU -- no simple task, even though both are at home -- and the Sooners will finish with a 10-2 record and be almost 100% assured of a CFP spot for the first time since 2019.
Numbers that tell the story of the Sooners' thrilling upset of mighty Alabama
2 -- The Sooners won the game despite being without two of their best defensive players. Defensive end R Mason Thomas, who leads the team with 6.5 sacks, and defensive tackle Jayden Jackson were both unable to go with injuries.
2 -- OU linebacker Kip Lewis had a career-high two sacks in the game and a season-best seven tackles.
4-0 -- Oklahoma's record in true road games this season (three against SEC opponents).
7 -- John Mateer's 20-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give OU a 17-7 lead was his team-best seventh of the season.
7-1 --The Sooners are now 7-1 this season when leading at the half
17 -- Oklahoma's three takeaways contributed to 17 of the Sooners' total 23 points.
18 -- Alabama entered the game having allowed just 18 sacks all season. Oklahoma posted four sacks in Saturday's game, and now have 37 for the season, among the nation's top three.
21 -- OU's Tate Sandell kicked three field goals of 25, 52 and 24 yards. He missed his first field -goal attempt of the season, but has made 21 consecutive field goals since, which is second-best in SEC history and an OU record. Seven of his field goals this season are of 50 or more yards.
28 -- Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson completed 28 of 42 passes for 326 yards. The 28 completions were a career-best.
42 -- Isaiah Sategna returned a punt 42 yards to set up a 24-yard field goal on Oklahoma's opening possession of the game, giving the Sooners a 3-0 lead. It was OU's second-longest punt return of the season.
80 -- Oklahoma held Alabama to 80 rushing yards. This was the sixth time in 10 games that the Sooners have held an opponent this season to 80 or fewer yards on the ground.
100,077 -- Announced attendance at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. That was the fourth-largest crowd an Oklahoma team has played in front of in its history. The 101,915 at Tennessee two weeks before was the third-largest. First and second are the 2017 game at Ohio State (109,088) and 2015 at Tennessee (102,455). All four were Oklahoma wins.