What play against Oklahoma had Tide’s defensive coordinator ‘very disappointed?’

Nov 15, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer (10) runs the ball during the first half against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Leong-Imagn Images

Alabama football’s defensive coordinator Kane Wommack was ‘very disappointed’ in the effort the Tide’s defense displayed on a play in the first half against Oklahoma.

The play resulted in Oklahoma’s only offensive score of the game. The Sooners’ starting quarterback John Mateer carried the football on what appeared to be a quarterback-designed run and broke several tackles en route to crossing the goal line for a score.

JOHN MATEER TAKES IT IN HIMSELF 😤 @OU_Football pic.twitter.com/MOMnUJM9pp

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) November 15, 2025

Wommack expressed his disappointment in the play on Monday.

“We had in one touchdown we gave up, we had three missed tackles, never should have happened, very disappointing in that situation right there,” Wommack said. “We’ve improved a lot from a tackling standpoint as a team and never should have let them in the endzone.”

Improved tackling is something Wommack recently praised his team for.

“Good defenses trend in the right direction from a tackling efficient standpoint,” Wommack said after Alabama beat LSU. “As the season goes on, if you’re not efficient in tackling, it’s going to show up. I think we’re getting better and better at that. I think structurally, the way that we play a more of a vision style defense, right, there’s a lot more vice tackles. There’s not a lot of yards after catch or yards after contact. So that structurally kind of helps us as well. I thought our players, going back to the point I made at the beginning, that was probably the fastest I’ve seen us play as a defense to this point in the season, and one of our keys to victory going in because they [LSU] were so dynamic in their receiving core and their athletes was that we really had to swarm the ball, and I think our players played hard and played fast. When you do that, two things tend to be the case: you’re gonna do a good job at tackling and limiting yards after contact, and then you’re also going to create takeaways. Effort always creates takeaways.”

The Crimson Tide will look to get back to being consistently good at making tackles this week.