No. 11 Oklahoma surges into College Football Playoff contention with 23-21 win at No. 4 Alabama

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Oklahoma’s College Football Playoff hopes got a huge boost in Tuscaloosa.

The No. 11 Sooners upset No. 4 Alabama 23-21 to move to 8-2 overall and 4-2 in the SEC. Oklahoma’s defense forced three turnovers and stopped Alabama late in the fourth quarter.

On the first play after the two-minute warning, Kip Lewis sacked Alabama QB Ty Simpson for an 11-yard loss at the Alabama 33-yard line. Alabama got 15 yards back on third down, but Simpson’s fourth-down pass toward Ryan Williams fell incomplete with 50 seconds to go.

The Sooners got the go-ahead score with 13:41 remaining when Tate Sandell hit a 24-yard field goal. He could’ve had a chance for a long field goal to extend Oklahoma’s lead to five midway through the fourth quarter, but QB John Mateer was called for intentional grounding on third down to put the Sooners out of range. That forced a punt back to Alabama for the Tide’s final drive of the game.

[Get more Sooners football news: Oklahoma team feed]

Oklahoma entered the game without star edge rusher a after he suffered a hamstring injury in the team’s win over Tennessee on Nov. 1. Ahead of that Tennessee game, Oklahoma had forced just four turnovers in eight games.

The Sooners have now forced 10 turnovers in 10 games after Tennessee turned the ball over three times two weeks ago and Alabama turned over three times on Saturday. 

Simpson threw just his second interception of the season and fumbled for the fifth consecutive game. He finished the game 28-of-42 passing for 326 yards and a TD, but his Heisman hopes are likely over.

Oklahoma needed those turnovers too. As Alabama had over 400 yards of offense, the Sooners had just 213 yards on 51 plays and just one offensive touchdown.

The Sooners’ first TD came on an 87-yard pick 6 by Eli Bowen. That gave the Sooners a 10-0 lead.

After Alabama cut it to three points, Oklahoma pushed the lead back to 10 on a 20-yard TD run by QB John Mateer. That was the second play of a 31-yard drive that was set up by the recovery of a Ryan Williams fumble.

And then, just before halftime, Taylor Wein got his hand on a field goal attempt to preserve a 17-14 lead. 

Mateer was just 15-of-23 passing for 138 yards and the Sooners rushed 28 times for 74 yards.

Oklahoma’s clear path to the playoff

The Sooners face Missouri and LSU at home to end the season and will be significantly favored in both games. At 10-2, Oklahoma would make the 12-team College Football Playoff.

However, this is not a team that looks capable of competing for a national title. The offense has been inconsistent at best since Mateer returned from hand surgery. Oklahoma’s defense can keep it in nearly any game. But the offense needs to step up.

Alabama, meanwhile, still controls its own path to the SEC title. At 8-2 overall and 6-1 in the SEC, a win against Auburn in the final week of the season will put Alabama into the SEC championship game. A loss to the Tigers, however, will likely knock the Tide out of SEC contention. And eliminate them from the playoff, too.

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