We've spent the whole year calling for the Lotzeir Brooks breakout game. He couldn't have picked a better moment for it to happen than against Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff on Friday night.
Brooks was Alabama's leading receiver, coming up with big play after big play to provide the boost a flailing Alabama offense needed. The sensational freshman finished with 79 yards on five receptions with two touchdowns. It was the first two touchdowns of his Crimson Tide career.
A good time for that.
It wasn't just the two touchdowns. It was an underrated catch before that breathed life into a lifeless Tide offense.
Alabama went three-and-out on its first three drives of the game. By the time it got the ball for the fourth, it was down 17-0, and the game felt close to being over already. Especially when you consider what happened two weeks ago in Atlanta. It looked like a repeat performance in Norman.
On a critical 3rd-and-5 with the Crimson Tide facing a fourth consecutive three-and-out, Ty Simpson hit Brooks for a 29-yard pass to put Alabama in business. The pass by Simpson was underthrown, but Brooks did an excellent job working back and making a difficult catch.
Later on the same drive, Brooks made the catch on a 4th-and-2 in the redzone, and then scratched and clawed his way into the endzone for the Alabama touchdown to get the Tide on the board.
True freshman Lotzeir Brooks SPINNING his way into the endzone 🔥 pic.twitter.com/UCf9Ut4i0C
— ESPN (@espn) December 20, 2025
Lotzeir Brooks made himself a household name with CFP performance
Early in the third quarter, with Alabama having fought all the way back to tie the game at 17, Brooks found the endzone again. In single coverage, Simpson gave Brooks a chance and delivered a strike that the true freshman went up and grabbed for a 30-yard touchdown to put Alabama up 24-17.
Ty Simpson with the dart to Lotzeir Brooks 🎯 pic.twitter.com/QPOlTpDGfc
— ESPN (@espn) December 20, 2025
Brooks was arguably the most underrated WR in the 2025 recruiting class. He committed to Alabama when he was just a 3-star, something that 247 kept him at, while the composite showed him as a 4-star.
It was clear from spring practice that Brooks was going to make an immediate impact in Tuscaloosa. He had put up 362 receiving yards on the season coming into the College Football Playoff. He was already well known by Alabama fans, but he became a household name with his performance on the big stage.
Alabama needed a receiver to step up with critical drops by Germie Bernard, Isaiah Horton, and Ryan Williams. Brooks was the guy, proving himself as a reliable weapon for the Crimson Tide offense and turning into a star right before our eyes.