Game Primer: CFP First Round vs. Alabama

Friday, December 19

Norman

7 p.m. CT

University of Oklahoma

Alabama

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Game Primer: CFP First Round vs. Alabama

December 18, 2025 | Football

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#8 Oklahoma

#9 Alabama

Friday, Dec. 19 / 7 p.m. CT / Owen Field

ABC/ESPN / Radio / Live Stats / Game Notes

OPENING KICK

• No. 8/8/8 Oklahoma (10-2, 6-2 SEC) hosts No. 9/11/11 Alabama (10-3, 7-1) in the College Football Playoff First Round on Friday at 7 p.m. CT at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman. The game will be televised by ABC and ESPN with Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Holly Rowe and Laura Rutledge announcing.

• OU is making its fifth College Football Playoff appearance (as is Georgia), trailing only Alabama (nine), Clemson (seven) and Ohio State (seven). The next most is three by Michigan, Notre Dame and Oregon. Three programs have qualified for two CFPs and 16 for one.

• Oklahoma owns a 5-2-1 record against Alabama, including a 4-0 mark at campus sites (2-0 in Norman), and has won four of the last five meetings. The Crimson Tide owns a 2-1-1 edge in bowl games.

• The Sooners beat Alabama 24-3 in Norman last season (Nov. 23) and 23-21 in Tuscaloosa this year (Nov. 15). The only team to beat the Crimson Tide twice in one season or three times over a two-season span was Birmingham Athletic Club in 1893 and 1892-93. 1892 was Alabama's first year playing varsity football.

• Oklahoma and Alabama are tied for the all-time national lead with their 27 seasons each of 11-plus wins. UA ranks first nationally with its 44 seasons of at least 10 wins, while OU ranks second with 43.

• Oklahoma leads all SEC programs with its 921 all-time AP poll appearances and Alabama ranks second (906). For perspective, Texas is third with more than 100 fewer appearances (805).

• Friday's game will mark the latest home contest in the calendar year in Oklahoma's 131-year history. The previous latest home game came in 1985 when Barry Switzer's Sooners beat SMU 35-13 on Dec. 7. OU went on to beat Penn State in the Orange Bowl to claim the program's sixth AP national title. The Sooners are 8-3 all-time in December home games.

• OU is making its 27th consecutive bowl/postseason appearance, by far the longest streak in school history (the previous record was eight from the 1975-82 seasons under Switzer). Beginning in Bob Stoops' 1999 debut season as head coach, it is the second-longest active streak in the nation (Georgia; 29).

• The 2025 season marks the 131st in OU football history. The Sooners lead the nation with their 50 all-time conference titles, 27 11-plus-win seasons (tied), 33 AP top-five finishes and five No. 1 overall NFL Draft picks (tied). They rank second with their seven Heisman Trophy winners (tied), third with seven AP national titles, their 101 weeks as the AP's No. 1 team and 432 total weeks in the AP Top 5, fourth with their 419 NFL Draft picks and fifth with their 59 bowl/postseason appearances.

• Friday's contest will mark the 1,364th in OU history. The Sooners rank fifth nationally with their .724 all-time winning percentage (960-350-53 record), trailing Ohio State (.737), Alabama (.733), Notre Dame (.733) and Michigan (.733). Since the end of World War II (1946 season to present), OU leads all programs with 716 wins (28 more than Alabama, the program with the next most).

Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium at night with striped crowd and fireworks

FOR THE FANS

• Fans are encouraged to arrive at the stadium early to avoid potential long lines at the gates closer to kickoff and to experience the heightened pre-game pageantry elements planned for the College Football Playoff First Round game.

• ESPN College GameDay will broadcast live from the South Oval from 5-6 p.m. Friday and inside Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium (southeast fan plaza) from 6-7. SEC Nation will broadcast live from the stadium's southwest fan plaza from 5-7 p.m.

• At 4:55 p.m., OU players and coaches will arrive at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium via team buses and walk to their stadium entrance while being cheered by fans. The "Walk of Champions" path originates from the Jenkins Ave./Brooks St. intersection just northeast of the stadium (view map here). The team will be led by the Sooner Schooner and OU Spirit. Friday's Walk of Champions will feature a flyover with four F-35 jets.

• Free, public tailgating is open on the historic North Oval. For the first time in university history, fans have the opportunity this season to set up their tailgates on one of the most recognizable places on campus, creating an electric atmosphere just steps away from Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Fans can claim spaces on the North Oval beginning at 6 p.m. on the Friday before a home game. More tailgating information, policies and a map, click here.

• Once again, "Party at the Palace, Presented by Allstate" will be held on the lawn immediately north of Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium for fans of all ages, this week running from 2-6 p.m. Highlights include food trucks, giveaways, music, interactive games, inflatables and more. Additionally, 107.7 The Franchise, the flagship station of the Sooner Sports Radio Network, originates the start of its pregame show live from Party at the Palace beginning three hours prior to kickoff.

• The University of Oklahoma and the Southeastern Conference have zero-tolerance policies regarding fan field intrusions and throwing debris on the field. The SEC will issue member schools a $500,000 fine for violating the field-intrusion policy (paid to the opposing school for conference games) and a $250,000 fine for throwing debris on the field. Violations of these policies could also result in prosecution.

• A reminder that umbrellas are not permitted inside Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. For a full list of OU game day policies, procedures and additional fan information, click here.

KEY STORYLINES

• Oklahoma and Georgia are the only teams that have posted at least five wins this season against opponents ranked in the AP Top 25 at the time of competition, and OU is the only one to do it in the regular season. The last time OU won five or more regular season games against AP-ranked teams was 2015.

• Friday's contest represents OU's school-single-season-record eighth against a team ranked in the AP and/or coaches poll at the time of competition. The 1973 Sooners went 6-0-1 vs. ranked teams under first-year head coach Barry Switzer and finished 10-0-1 overall.

• Oklahoma had a November to remember, going 4-0 against SEC opponents and posting three straight wins over AP-ranked foes for the first time since the last four games of the 2016 season. The Sooners won 33-27 at No. 14 Tennessee, 23-21 at No. 4 Alabama, 17-6 vs. No. 23 Missouri and 17-13 vs. LSU.

• The Sooners have enjoyed tremendous late-season success at home. They have won 48 of their last 51 November home games (going back to the 1998 season) and are 8-3 all-time in December home contests.

• Friday's game will pit an Oklahoma squad that has converted all 32 of its red-zone opportunities into points this season (the only FBS team with a 100% conversion rate) against an Alabama team that ranks 19th nationally by allowing opponents to score just 76.5% of the time once they reach the red zone. OU has 23 touchdowns and nine field goals in its 32 red-zone trips.

• Statistically, Oklahoma's defensive unit is one of the best in the country, and probably the best in the SEC. The Sooners rank seventh nationally in scoring defense (13.9 ppg), ninth in total defense (273.6 ypg), fifth in rushing defense (81.4 ypg) and 31st in passing defense (192.2 ypg). OU also ranks first nationally in tackles for loss per game (9.6; next most is 8.7 by Texas A&M) and sacks per game (3.4), No. 3 in touchdowns allowed (16), No 5 in rushing TDs allowed (six) and passing TDs allowed (nine), No. 6 in opponent third-down conversion percentage (29.0) and No. 7 in opponent yards per play (4.3).

• Forty-one percent of OU's opponents' offensive plays this season (320 of 773) have gone for zero or negative yards. An additional 47 plays have resulted in a one-yard gain, meaning 47% of opponent plays have yielded one or fewer yards.

• The Sooners have held eight opponents, including six of eight foes in SEC play) to 85 or fewer rushing yards, including Alabama (80 on 33 carries) on Nov. 15. The Crimson Tide ranks 116th nationally with its 116.2 rushing yards per game.

• OU had no takeaways over its first four games but has 13 over the last eight (nine over the last four).

• Since the start of the 2023 season, OU is 18-0 when it wins the turnover battle (5-0 this year) and 7-10 when it loses it (5-2).

• Despite not starting in five of OU's 12 games, redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Taylor Wein ranks fourth in the SEC with his 14.0 tackles for loss. Six Sooners rank in the top 22 of the 16-team SEC in TFLs. Joining Wein are redshirt junior linebacker Owen Heinecke (11th; 10.0), senior lineman R Mason Thomas (13th; 9.5 in nine games), redshirt senior linebacker Kendal Daniels (17th; 9.0), redshirt junior linebacker Kip Lewis (20th; 8.5) and sophomore lineman David Stone (22nd; 8.0). Redshirt senior lineman Gracen Halton ranks 31st with 7.0 and redshirt junior linebacker Kobie McKinzie 42nd with 6.5.

• Redshirt junior wide receiver Isaiah Sategna III, earned first-team All-SEC honors from the Associated Press after ranking first in league play with his 716 receiving yards and 89.5 yards per game, second in receptions (48) and tied for third in receiving touchdowns (five). On the year he has 65 catches for 948 yards and seven TDs. His career highs entering the season were 37 catches and 491 yards last year at Arkansas.

GREAT TATE: SANDELL WINS OU'S FIRST LOU GROZA AWARD

• Redshirt junior and first-year Sooner Tate Sandell earned Oklahoma's first-ever Lou Groza Award on Friday as the nation's best placekicker, beating out fellow finalists Georgia Tech's Aidan Birr and Hawaii's Kansei Matsuzawa. Sandell, who was also named SEC Special Teams Player of the Year and a first-team All-American, has assembled the greatest placekicking season in OU history. He is 23 for 24 on the year and has made his last 23 attempts, breaking the previous school-record streak of 18 makes and setting the SEC single-season record. Fifteen of his makes have been from at least 40 yards, obliterating the previous OU single-season record of nine.

• His seven makes from 50-plus yards (all in the last eight games; he is 7 for 7) are the most in an OU career, the most nationally this season (only one other kicker has as many as five) and one shy of the FBS record of eight by Tennessee's Fuad Reveiz in 1982. He has booted four from 55 yards, also the most in school history for a career and tied for the most nationally in a season over the last 30 years. And his average-make distance of 41.8 yards leads the nation among kickers with at least 15 conversions. See the chart to the right for more of Sandell's 2025 accomplishments.

10 SOONERS NAMED ALL-SEC

• Ten Oklahoma players accounted for 11 first-, second- or third-team All-SEC honors in a vote by the league's head coaches. The 11 honors ranked second in the conference to Georgia's 12.

• Senior defensive lineman R Mason Thomas, redshirt junior kicker Tate Sandell and redshirt junior punter Grayson Miller each earned first-team honors. Sandell was also named SEC Special Teams Player of the Year.

• Second-team honors went to redshirt junior receiver Isaiah Sategna III (both as wide receiver and all-purpose player), redshirt senior offensive lineman Febechi Nwaiwu, redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Taylor Wein, junior defensive back Peyton Bowen and redshirt junior long snapper Ben Anderson.

• Senior tight end Jaren Kanak and sophomore defensive back Eli Bowen were seleced to the All-SEC Third Team.

• OU's two SEC All-Freshman Team honorees were running back Tory Blaylock and defensive back Courtland Guillory, both true frosh.

• Two more Sooners made the AP's All-SEC Team. Senior defensive lineman Gracen Halton and redshirt junior linebacker Owen Heinecke were second-team picks, as was Thomas. Sategna, Sandell and Miller were first-team selections.

Tate Sandell watches a field goal go through the uprights in OU's game at Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Nov. 15, 2025

OU-ALABAMA SERIES HISTORY

• Oklahoma leads the all-time series against Alabama, 5-2-1, with the Sooners winning all four on-campus matchups (37-27 in 2002 and 24-3 in 2024 in Norman; and 20-13 in 2003 and 23-21 in earlier this season in Tuscaloosa). The Sooners' five wins have come in the last six meetings.

• The other four meetings came in bowls. No. 5 Alabama won 17-0 over the No. 8 Sooners in the Orange Bowl to cap the 1962 season before No. 20 OU and the unranked Crimson Tide played to a 24-24 tie in the 1970 Bluebonnet Bowl. At the end of the 2013 season, Bob Stoops' No. 11 Sooners beat Nick Saban's No. 3 Alabama squad 45-31 in the Sugar Bowl. In the most recent postseason matchup in 2018, the No. 1 Tide downed fourth-ranked OU 45-34 in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Orange Bowl.

RECAPPING OU'S NOV. 15 WIN IN TUSCALOOSA

• No. 11/11/10 Oklahoma registered three takeaways for the second straight game and did not turn the ball over in a 23-21 win at No. 4/4/4 Alabama on Nov. 15. It was OU's highest-ranked road victory since 2017 and ended the Crimson Tide's 17-game home winning streak (was the longest active FBS streak).

• The Sooners registered a defensive touchdown for the second straight contest when sophomore cornerback Eli Bowen intercepted a pass and returned it 87 yards for a 10-0 first-quarter lead. It was Bowen's second career interception (the other came in last year's home win over Alabama) and represented the eighth-longest interception return in school history. He added a season-high five tackles on the day en route to SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

• OU's other takeaways were fumble recoveries on a second-quarter Alabama punt return (forced by Jaydan Hardy and recovered by Sammy Omosigho) and on a third-quarter strip-sack by Taylor Wein (recovered by Kendal Daniels). The Crimson Tide entered the game with only six giveaways all season.

• Quarterback John Mateer completed 15 of 23 passes for 138 yards and rushed 10 times for 23 yards, including a 20-yard TD that gave OU a 17-7 lead with 8:49 left in the second quarter.

• OU's only deficit was 21-20 after Alabama ran for a 1-yard touchdown with 7:27 left in the third quarter, its only score of the second half. The Sooners retook the lead on Tate Sandell's 24-yard field goal with 13:41 remaining in the fourth quarter. The make came after Wein's strip-sack. Sandell also connected from 25 yards on OU's first possession and from 52 yards in the third quarter for a 20-14 lead. He was named SEC Special Teams Player of the Week for the second straight game and third time of the season.

• Redshirt junior linebacker Kip Lewis logged a game-high seven tackles (all solo), including a career-high 2.0 sacks (for 18 yards). He also registered a QB hurry on Bowen's interception and was named Bednarik Award Player of the Week.

• Wein, who was named SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week, added a blocked field goal as time expired in the first half, preserving a 17-14 lead. It was OU's first blocked field goal since 2020.

• OU's 212 yards of offense were its fewest in victory since totaling 206 in a 14-3 win over Texas in 2001.

• The crowd of 100,077 was the fourth largest to witness an OU game and the second straight over 100,000. The Sooners improved to 4-0 all-time in front of six-figure crowds

• OU became the first program to beat Alabama in consecutive regular seasons since Ole Miss in 2014 and '15.

NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER

• Oklahoma entered November with 6-2 overall and 2-2 SEC records, and likely needed to win its last four regular season games to qualify for the College Football Playoff. The Sooners did just that, winning 33-27 at No. 14 Tennessee, 23-21 at No. 4 Alabama, 17-6 vs. No. 23 Missouri and 17-13 vs. LSU.

• Over the four games, OU forced nine turnovers (six interceptions and three fumble recoveries) and scored key touchdowns on two of them (an R Mason Thomas 71-yard fumble return at Tennessee and an Eli Bowen 87-yard interception return at Alabama).

• The victories over Missouri and LSU upped OU's record in November home games to 48-3 since the start of the 1998 season. The .941 winning percentage is the best nationally during the stretch (Oregon is second at .863; 46-7 record).

HOME IS WHERE THE "W" IS

• Oklahoma is 151-16 (.904) at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium since the start of the 1999 season (Bob Stoops' first year as head coach), giving it just two more home losses than conference titles during the period. It is the second-best home winning percentage in the country over the stretch (Boise State [.906] is first and Ohio State [.899] third). OU has outscored its foes by an average of 42-18 in those games.

• Including Friday's game, OU's sellout streak of originally scheduled home contests is 167 games (dating back to the start of the 1999 season). Only Nebraska has a longer current streak.

• Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium celebrated its 100th season in 2024. The 100th anniversary of the first game played in the stadium was Oct. 17. On that day in 1925, the first contest was played in front of the new 16,000-seat west stands, a 7-0 victory over Drake.

• The first game played at the current stadium site, called Owen Field and named after former head coach and athletics director Bennie Owen (a charter member of the College Football Hall of Fame), took place in 1923, before stadium construction got underway.

• OU owns a sparkling 429-89-15 (.819) all-time record at the "Palace on the Prairie" and has faced 101 opponents there (Illinois State, Michigan, Auburn, Ole Miss and LSU made their first appearances this season).

YEAR TWO IN THE SEC

• Oklahoma and Texas officially joined the Southeastern Conference on July 1, 2024, after 28 years in the Big 12 Conference. OU won half (14) of the Big 12's football titles in its 28 years in the league and posted a 187-61 (.754) record against conference competition (includes an 11-1 record in Big 12 championship games).

• Oklahoma's 14 Big 12 titles were 10 more than the program with the next most (Texas won four). From 2010 through 2023, OU won eight Big 12 titles and was followed by Baylor (three), K-State (two) and Oklahoma State, TCU and Texas (one each).

• The final regular season AP poll features a nation-leading eight SEC teams, including seven of the top 14: No. 3 Georgia, No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 11 Alabama, No. 13 Vanderbilt, No. 14 Texas and No. 25 Missouri. The Big Ten ranks second with five AP top-25 teams, while the Big 12 has four, the ACC and American three each and the Sun Belt one.

MORE ON THE OFFENSE

• Redshirt junior quarterback John Mateer, who transferred from Washington State in January, has completed 221 of 356 pass attempts (62%) for 2,578 yards (234.4 average) and 12 touchdowns through his 11 games (he missed the Kent State contest following right hand surgery). He is also OU's third-leading rusher with 416 yards and has a team-high seven TDs on the ground.

• Sophomore running back Xavier Robinson rushed for over 100 yards in two of the last five games (career highs of 109 vs. Ole Miss and 115 at Tennessee). Over the last six outings, Robinson has carried 65 times for 367 yards (5.6 per rush) and four TDs. Prior to the stretch, he had 16 carries for 50 yards (3.1 average) on the year. He ranks second on the team with 416 rushing yards on the season (5.2 yards per rush).

• True freshman running back Tory Blaylock leads the team with 444 rushing yards on the year and has registered two 100-yard performances (100 and two TDs at Temple; 101 and one TD at South Carolina). Against Temple, he became the first OU freshman (true or redshirt) running back to register a 100-yard rushing effort in at least one of his first three games since current running backs coach DeMarco Murray did the same in 2007 (100 in third game).

• Redshirt junior receiver Isaiah Sategna III leads OU with 65 receptions while redshirt senior Deion Burks ranks second with 50. Sategna III, a first-year Sooner who transferred from Arkansas, paces the squad with 948 receiving yards (79.0 per game; tied for second in SEC), and over the past 10 contests has racked up 59 catches for 888 yards and seven TDs. He has three TD receptions this season of more than 50 yards (76, 87 and 58 yards), all in the last five games.

• Burks, who spent three years at Purdue and is in his second at Oklahoma, caught seven passes and one TD in each of the first two games this season and added 61 yards and a touchdown in the regular season finale vs. LSU. He has 513 receiving yards on the season.

• Senior tight end Jaren Kanak played linebacker his first three years (started nine games in 2023 and one last season) before converting to tight end in the spring. The former high school receiver and quarterback has 40 catches for 511 yards (12.8 yards per reception) through 12 games. The 511 yards are more than the combined receiving yards amassed by OU tight ends last season (455).

• Redshirt senior and Burlsworth Trophy finalist Febechi Nwaiwu is the only OU offensive lineman to start all 12 games this season. He has started 11 contests at right guard (also started all 13 games there last year), and started at center against LSU, playing the position for the first time in his collegiate career.

• Oklahoma has started true freshman left and right tackles (Michael Fasusi at left and Ryan Fodje at right) in each of the last five games. Prior to the Oct. 25 Ole Miss contest, no true freshman offensive tackle duo had started in a game in OU history. Fasusi has started nine games and Fodje five. In a win over No. 15 Michigan, Fasusi became the first OU freshman to start at left tackle in his first career game.

• Redshirt freshman Eddy Pierre-Louis has started at left guard each of the last four games (now has five career starts). Prior to those contests, the last time OU started three freshman offensive linemen was in 1997 in a 35-14 win vs. Louisville: Scott Kempenich (LT), Adam Carpenter (LG) and Jason Bronson (RG). All were redshirt freshmen.

NORMAN, OK - November 29, 2025 - Oklahoma Linebacker Kip Lewis (#10), Oklahoma Linebacker Owen Heinecke (#38), and Oklahoma Defensive Lineman David Stone (#0) during the game between the LSU Tigers and the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, OK. Photo By Peyton Martin/University of Oklahoma

MORE ON THE DEFENSE

• Oklahoma has allowed just 167 points and 16 touchdowns this season, its fewest through 12 games since 2009 (162 points) and 1987 (nine touchdowns). OU's 977 rushing yards allowed are its fewest through 12 games since 1986 (668) and its six rushing touchdowns are the fewest allowed since 2001 (five).

• In its 10 wins, Oklahoma has held opponents to a 23.0% third-down conversion rate (32 for 139). In OU's two losses, opponents have combined for a 50.0% rate (19 for 38). Texas was 10 for 17 (58.8%) and Ole Miss was 9 for 21 (42.9%).

• Of OU's opponents' 140 possessions this season, 54 of them (39%) have resulted in a 3-and-out (no points).

• The strength of the Sooners' defense very well could be its line, with 121 career starts between its tackles and ends (76 by the tackles [49 by Damonic Williams, 16 by Jayden Jackson, nine by Gracen Halton and two by David Stone]) and 45 by the ends [19 by R Mason Thomas, 19 by Marvin Jones Jr. and seven by Taylor Wein]). Including junior end Adepoju Adebawore, the nine players have combined for 56.5 tackles for loss and 25.5 sacks this season. Phil Steele ranked OU's defensive line as the best in the country in summer, and ESPN/SEC Network analyst Cole Cubelic said in May the Sooners have the league's best defensive line, "... and it ain't even close."

• Stone has blossomed this season, and earned first-team midseason All-America honors from CBS Sports and second-team acclaim from the Associated Press. Most of his production has come in non-starts (he has only started vs. Kent State and at South Carolina). The former consensus five-star recruit, who was ranked as the nation's top defensive tackle by ESPN and Rivals, ranks seventh on the team (first among tackles) with 42 tackles. He also leads OU's tackles with 8.0 tackles for loss. As a freshman last year, Stone played in all 13 games but logged just six tackles (2.0 for loss).

• Four linebackers rank in the top five on the team in tackles. Redshirt junior Kip Lewis leads OU with 72 stops, redshirt junior Owen Heinecke is second (67), redshirt senior Kendal Daniels ranks fourth (49) and junior Sammy Omosigho and ranks fifth (47). They have combined for 32.0 tackles for loss and 14 pass breakups.

• OU registered defensive touchdowns of longer than 70 yards in wins at Alabama and Tennessee to start November (a 71-yard fumble return by R Mason Thomas at Tennessee and an 87-yard interception return by Eli Bowen at Alabama). It is the only team to record a 70-plus-yard defensive TD in consecutive SEC road games since at least 1995.

• Against Illinois State, Courtland Guillory became only the second OU true freshman to start at cornerback in a season opener (the other was P.J. Mbanasor in 2015). Guillory has 39 tackles, six pass breakups (second on the team) and a QB hurry in his 12 games (started first five games and each of the last five).

A LOOK AT SPECIAL TEAMS

• Lou Groza Award winner and SEC Special Teams Player of the Year Tate Sandell has handled placekicking and kickoff duties all season. The redshirt junior and first-year Sooner leads the SEC with his 96% field-goal conversion rate (23 for 24; made his last 23), which includes a make from 51 yards, two from 52 yards and four from 55 yards. He is 10 for 10 on attempts from 45-plus yards and has made all 32 of his PAT tries. OU's long snapper is redshirt junior Ben Anderson (a 2025 Mannelly Award semifinalist and a second-team All-SEC performer) and its holder is redshirt sophomore Jacob Ulrich (first-team All-Conference USA as a punter last season at Kennesaw State).

• Oklahoma ranks 12th nationally with its 46.1 yards per punt. Redshirt junior Grayson Miller, who has punted the last 11 games, was a first-team All-SEC selection and the Oct. 28 Ray Guy Award Punter of the Week. The transfer from NCAA Division II Central Oklahoma ranks 12th nationally with his 46.2-yard average and has booted 23 of his 54 punts over 50 yards (long of 66), with 24 downed inside the 20 and only six touchbacks. He earned SEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors twice this season, following his performances against Auburn and Missouri.

• Redshirt junior Isaiah Sategna III ranks 10th nationally by averaging 13.1 yards per punt return.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL'S BEST

• During the modern era of college football (since the end of World War II), the Sooners are the nation's No. 1 team with more wins (716) than any other program (next most is 688 by Alabama).

• Oklahoma has finished in the top 5 of the AP poll a nation-leading 33 times (Ohio State is second with 31).

• OU leads all FBS programs with 50 all-time conference championships. The rest of the top five includes Nebraska (46), Michigan (45), Ohio State (39) and USC (37). The Sooners' 14 league titles since 2000 are the most among Power Five programs (Ohio State ranks second with 11).

• No program has more all-time 11-win seasons than Oklahoma's 27 (Alabama also has 27).

• Since the start of the 2000 season, OU ranks second with 20 seasons of at least 10 wins (Ohio State has 21)and ranks second with 271 victories.

• Since former head coach Bob Stoops arrived in Norman in 1999, OU leads the country with its 13,407 points scored. Boise State (13,107) is second and Oregon (12,836) third.

• Oklahoma's 81 consensus All-Americans since 1950 lead the nation (Alabama and Ohio State rank second; 77). Since 2000, OU has produced 31 consensus All-Americans, tied with Ohio State behind only Alabama.

EXTRA POINTS

• Oklahoma is 32-5-2 all-time as the No. 8-ranked team in the AP poll (12-1 at home). The Sooners were also ranked eighth for their last two games (17-6 and 17-13 home wins over No. 23 Missouri and LSU, respectively). Prior to this season, OU was last ranked eighth in the AP poll in 2020 for its 55-20 Cotton Bowl victory over No. 10 Florida. Its only home loss when ranked No. 8 in the AP poll was in 2012 (30-13 to No. 5 Notre Dame).

• The Sooners have won their last 89 games when holding opponents to under 21 points. Their last loss under the circumstance came at Nebraska in 2009 (10-3).

• OU went 4-0 in true road games this season, downing Temple 42-3, South Carolina 26-7, No. 14 Tennessee 33-27 and No. 4 Alabama 23-21. In those contests, the Sooners held opponents to an average of 297.5 yards (4.3 per play) and 55.8 rushing yards (1.7 per carry).

• In their 26 wins since the start of the 2023 season, the Sooners have outscored opponents 219-49 off turnovers. In their 12 losses during the same span, they have been outscored 108-27 off turnovers.

• Since the start of the 2014 season, OU ranks fifth nationally (fourth in Power Four) with its 5.2 yards per rush and seventh (fourth in Power Four) with its 365 rushing TDs.