Oklahoma errors key blown lead, loss to Alabama in CFP opener - ESPN

NORMAN, Okla. — Back in the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019, No. 8 Oklahoma earned an unwanted distinction Friday night. After squandering a 17-point advantage in a 34-24 loss to No. 9 Alabama, the Sooners now own the two largest blown leads in Playoff history.

A month after Crimson Tide miscues fueled the defining win of Oklahoma's 2025 season on Nov. 15, Alabama flipped the script inside Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, feasting on errors from quarterback John Mateer and the Sooners' special team units to bounce the hosts in the CFP first-round and secure a Rose Bowl quarterfinal date with No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers on Jan. 1.

Down 17-0 early in the second quarter, the Crimson Tide scored on five of their next seven possessions and rattled off 27 unanswered points to power the joint-largest comeback in CFP history, matching the 17-point deficit Georgia overcame to top Oklahoma in a double-overtime, Rose Bowl thriller on New Year's Day 2018. Per ESPN research, teams that have led by 17 or more in a CFP game are 28-2 all-time. Each of those two losses belong to the Sooners.

Additionally, Friday's result marked the program's second-largest blown lead at home since Oklahoma Memorial Stadium opened in 1923. Winless in five Playoff trips since 2015, Oklahoma now holds the most losses of any program in CFP history.

«We had the ability and the opportunities to overcome it all even in just the last several minutes of the game, despite some just incredibly critical mistakes,» Sooners coach Brent Venables said afterward. «But it just wasn't in the cards for us tonight.»

The Sooners adopted team motto this fall was «Hard to Kill». On the same night rap legend 50 Cent performed inside Oklahoma Memorial Stadium with