Oklahoma and Alabama to meet for third time in 13 months with Rose Bowl quarterfinal on the line

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NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma and Alabama will meet Friday for third time in 13 months in the most significant game of their budding rivalry.

Last year, underdog Oklahoma stunned the Crimson Tide 24-3 and cost the Crimson Tide a spot in the College Football Playoff. Last month, Oklahoma won 23-21 at Alabama in a matchup of highly ranked teams that put the Sooners in position to reach the playoff.

Now, their seasons will be on the line in a playoff game, with the winner facing No. 1 seed Indiana in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables, as usual, showed great respect for Alabama.

“They’ve been very, very disruptive all year long, very, very well-coached in all three phases,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of familiarity, don’t want to be real redundant. We just played these guys a couple weeks ago and had a lot of great things to say.”

Oklahoma caught several breaks to win the first meeting. The Sooners got an 87-yard interception return for a touchdown from Eli Bowen, and quarterback John Mateer made just enough plays at critical times to save them. Oklahoma won the turnover battle 3-0 and Tate Sandell made three field goals to offset Alabama's 406-212 advantage in total yardage.

Venables said the Sooners will have to be better in the rematch against a program that has won six national titles since the start of the 2009 season.

“They’re a great program — great players, great coaches,” Venables said. “That’s the way they’ve been for 100-plus years. And so the enormity of the challenge is real. We’re going to have to be an improved version of ourselves.”

The Crimson Tide (10-3) like the chance to make things right.

“What a great opportunity," Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson said. “It’s a new season. Nobody’s won or lost. We know what happened last year, this year, but we can’t worry about that. We can control what we can control and we can control our attitude, how we play and how we prepare.”

Venables said all indicators are that this game will come down to the end.

“We’ve got two great teams going at it, and it’s going to be a one-possession game,” he said. “It’s going to be a game that every play has tremendous magnitude.”

The team that finds its running game could be in position to advance.

In the first matchup, the Crimson Tide rushed for 80 yards on 33 attempts and the Sooners gained just 74 yards on 28 carries.

Alabama has struggled with its ground game at times, rushing for minus-3 yards in the Southeastern Conference championship game against Georgia.

Oklahoma's Isaiah Sategna was a first-team AP All-SEC selection. He has 65 catches for 948 yards and seven touchdowns. He also is a dangerous punt returner, with 23 runbacks for a 13-yard average.

Alabama has a pair of standouts. Germie Bernard has 57 catches for 762 yards and seven scores. Ryan Williams has 42 catches for 631 yards and four touchdowns.

Oklahoma considered Alabama a rival, long before leaving the Big 12 for the SEC.

It goes back to former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, who voiced his disagreement with the notion that the SEC was better than the Big 12. Stoops backed up his talk when the Sooners beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl after the 2013 season. He had a 3-0 career record against the Crimson Tide.

Alabama beat the Sooners 45-34 in the playoff in 2018, but Oklahoma has won both meetings since. Despite Alabama's overall success, Oklahoma has won five of the past six meetings and holds a 5-2-1 overall record in the series.

Oklahoma's R Mason Thomas is off the injury report after missing more than a month.

The dominant edge rusher's right hamstring was injured while he returned a fumble 71 yards for a touchdown against Tennessee. He was named second-team AP All-SEC despite missing the final three games of the regular season, including the first matchup with Alabama.

Despite the missed time, he leads the team with 6 1/2 sacks and is third with 9 1/2 tackles for loss. He anchors a defense that leads the nation in sacks and tackles for loss.

Oklahoma had the first-team All-SEC kicker and punter, weapons that could be critical in a tight game.

Sandell made his final 23 field goal attempts of the regular season, setting SEC and school records. He has made all 10 of his tries from at least 45 yards and has made four from 55 yards.

Grayson Miller, a transfer from Central Oklahoma, ranks 12th nationally with 46.1 yards per punt and has had 24 downed inside the 20-yard line.

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