Alabama 34, Oklahoma 24
-
Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson was electric for the first two-thirds of the season, but in the final four games, Simpson and the Crimson Tide offense struggled. Simpson showed excellent accuracy and ball placement, but that went off in the final month, and Simpson seemed to get rattled with his offensive line struggling. The opening game of the playoff started out with Oklahoma harassing Simpson and limiting the Crimson Tide offense to some three-and-outs.
In the second quarter, Simpson finally found some rhythm and moved the ball down the field before throwing a short touchdown pass. He led a field goal drive and started to get more comfortable. Simpson was throwing some good passes, and multiple drops from his receivers let him down. Midway through the third quarter, Simpson threw a perfect deep ball to the corner of the end zone to Lotzier Brooks for a 30-yard touchdown. On the next drive after another big dropped completion, Simpson used his legs to take off on a 25-yard run.
Early in the fourth quarter, Simpson then threw a beautiful pass deep down the field along the sideline for a 37-yard gain to Isaiah Horton. Simpson lofted in a perfect strike to beat good coverage by Oklahoma. It was an incredible throw by Simpson. He completed 18-of-29 passes for 232 yards with two touchdowns.
For the NFL, Simpson looks like a starter and a potential high first-round pick. Simpson has shown some serious arm talent, making some beautiful throws downfield with superb ball placement to beat tight coverage. Simpson (6-2, 208) is accurate, smart, has a strong arm, and throws with timing and anticipation. This ape will help him to be a first-round pick next April if he enters the draft.
-
Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer had an excellent 2024 season with Washington State and a hot start to 2025. After thumb surgery caused him to play poorly in a number of games, Mateer was better over the past few games, and he threw the ball better against Alabama. The ball was jumping out of his hand, and it looked like he had more power in his throws. Perhaps the recovery time allowed him to grip the ball better. Mateer did not play a perfect game, but he looked closer to his early-season and Washington State form.
On the second drive, Mateer had a receiver wide open downfield for a gain of 25 yards, and Mateer sailed through over his head. The next play, Mateer showed his speed, taking off on a run of 12 before lowering his head into a tackler. To cap the drive, Mateer dodged a few defenders on an impressive 10-yard touchdown run. He added some completions to help set up a field goal, and early in the second quarter, hit a wide-open slot receiver to set up an eight-yard touchdown to Isaiah Sategna III. Shortly later, Mateer rolled out and laid out a perfect deep ball, and it was dropped. It should have gone for a 55-yard touchdown.
Late in the first half, Mateer made a critical mistake with his team up 17-10 with about 1:20 remaining. Mateer was not on the same page with his receiver, as he thought he was going to break out, but kept running vertically along the sideline. That led to an easy interception that was returned for a touchdown. Without knowing the play call and potential sight adjustment that was missed, it is impossible to know if the interception was the fault of Mateer or the receiver.
In the third quarter, Alabama shut down Mateer with a steady pass rush and forced punts. At the start of the fourth quarter, Mateer did a good job of reading the defense, working through his progressions. He found Deion Burks breaking free and led him for more yards, hitting him on the run. Burks darted down the field for a 37-yard touchdown on a good play by Mateer. In the fourth quarter, Mateer led two potential scoring drives, but the Sooners’ kicker missed two field goals. Mateer finished completing 26-of-41 passes for 307 yards with two touchdowns passing, one rushing, and an interception.
Mateer has a lot of talent to be a pro starter. He has a strong arm, can fire some lasers into tight windows, is very mobile, and is a dangerous runner with speed and toughness. His accuracy can be streaky, and while he will make some beautiful throws, he has some get-away-from-him. Part of that issue could be the thumb injury on his throwing hand, but he still needs to get more consistent. His decision-making needs some improvement, as Mateer can be reckless as a gunslinger with some dangerous passes and then taking some bad sacks, waiting for a big play to emerge rather than taking a check-down or throwing it away. Mateer has a lot of talent, and he could be a Baker Mayfield-style quarterback in the NFL. However, he needs refinement and development. Sources say Mateer is inclined to go back to school, and that is a good idea for making him better prepared for the NFL.
-
