Revenge is a dish best served... in Norman? That's probably the feeling for the Alabama Crimson Tide right now as they went into enemy territory in the College Football Playoff First Round on Friday night and toppled the No. 8-seed Oklahoma Sooners, a team that beat them in the regular season. Things didn't look great for Kalen DeBoer and his team early on as they fell behind 17-0, but with the combo of a brilliant run from Ty Simpson and taking advantage of OU mistakes, Alabama orchestrated a masterful comeback to get their lick back and move forward in the CFP bracket.
Make no mistake, this wasn't a perfect performance from Alabama. The Oklahoma defense caused the offensive line and Simpson problems pretty consistently throughout the night. However, the Crimson Tide continued to push, and their defense stepped up hugely in the second half to allow the comeback to happen. But there's only so much time to linger on the sweet taste of revenge, because Alabama now has to look a week-and-a-half ahead to what's next in the College Football Playoff.
Updated College Football Playoff: Who does Alabama play next after Oklahoma?
Alabama now advances in the College Football Playoff and will play the No. 1-seeded Indiana Hoosiers in the quarterfinal. That game is set to be played in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA on Thursday, Jan. 1 and will kick off at 4 p.m. ET.
While the Crimson Tide had the advantage of having seen Oklahoma once this season — and, to be sure, facing an obviously flawed Sooners team, as well — that won't be the case against the undefeated Hoosiers. Not only is there a factor of unfamiliarity there, but Indiana has been a far more consistent and, frankly, dangerous team than OU.
Alabama will have a much different test against Indiana
I hope you aren't surprised by the notion that the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff, Indiana, is far better than the No. 8 seed Oklahoma. But the differences between the first two opponents for Alabama can't be understated.
Now, it should be said, for as good as the Hoosiers defense is — which it fully proved in their stifling Big Ten Championship performance against Ohio State — there is at least an argument that Oklahoma has been better on that side of the ball this season. Having said that, that's where the factor of unfamiliarity could come into play. Ryan Grubb and Kalen DeBoer were able to game-plan for a defense they'd seen first-hand against the Sooners. That won't be the case against Indiana.
More important than that, however, is the fact that Indiana is miles more efficient than Oklahoma offensively. Indiana has been the most efficient offense in the country this season by EPA per Drive, showcasing a balanced attack through the air and on the ground, and with a vastly improved offensive line from what we saw last year. To add contrast, not only is the Sooners O-line average at best, their offense ranked 47th in EPA per Drive this season.
The biggest difference for me, though, is the Crimson Tide facing Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza instead of John Mateer for the Sooners. Obviously, Mendoza is the Heisman winner, but he's also simply a more polished, mature leader of an offense. He doesn't make the mental errors we saw from Mateer. To Alabama's credit, they took full advantage of those — but if those mistakes aren't there from Mendoza and Indiana, what will there be for the Tide to take advantage of in the quarterfinals?
Full College Football Playoff schedule for first round, quarterfinals
With Alabama advancing, let's take a full look at the remaining schedule for the CFP first round and then the quarterfinals now that one matchup is set.
Matchup (Bowl) | Date, Time, TV Channel |
|---|---|
10 Miami at 7 Texas A&M (CFP First Round) | Sat. Dec. 20, Noon ET (ABC, ESPN) |
11 Tulane at 6 Ole Miss (CFP First Round) | Sat. Dec. 20, 3:30 p.m. ET (TNT) |
12 JMU at 5 Oregon (CFP First Round) | Sat. Dec. 20, 7:30 p.m. ET (TNT) |
Miami/Texas A&M Winner vs. 2 Ohio State (Cotton Bowl) | Wed. Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN) |
JMU/Oregon Winner vs. 4 Texas Tech (Orange Bowl) | Thurs. Jan 1, Noon ET (ESPN) |
8 Alabama vs. 1 Indiana (Rose Bowl) | Thurs. Jan. 1, 4 p.m. ET (ESPN) |
Tulane/Ole Miss Winner vs. 3 Georgia (Sugar Bowl) | Thurs. Jan. 1, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN) |
Again, we have the Rose Bowl now set with Alabama-Indiana on-deck. But Ohio State, Georgia and Texas Tech still await their quarterfinal opponents. Oregon and Ole Miss are heavy favorites in their first-round matchups with James Madison and Tulane, respectively, and would move on to face Texas Tech and Georgia, respectively. However, the drama will be in the first game on Saturday of the three remaining first-round matchups between Miami and Texas A&M, with the winner advancing to face Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.