NORMAN – If what coaches always say is true and teams get their most improvement between their first and second games, UCLA is in big trouble in Norman Saturday.

Oklahoma trounced Florida Atlantic 63-14 last Saturday in Norman and arguably looked better on defense and special teams and at least as good as last season on offense.

On the other hand, UCLA lost to Cincinnati 17-26 at home for the debut of first-year head coach Chip Kelly.

It’s hard to see how OU could play much better this week and the Bruins’ performance makes it look like what was a marquee matchup is now out of balance in favor of the Sooners.

“How’d they do today? They were pretty good, huh?,” Kelly said in his postgame press conference. “I think that it was 42-0 at the half. And then something like 63-something and Kiff was asking for prayers, so I don’t know if I can call Lane and maybe he can share some.

“It is what it is. That’s how you play and that’s how you grow. If you are a young kid, you grow up and you think about Oklahoma and all the great players that they’ve had and played there and you get to go play in that place.

“If you can’t get excited about going to play Oklahoma at Oklahoma, then you are in the wrong spot. That’s why you came here. We knew coming in that you’d play a very difficult schedule. It is what it is. And most schedules are laid out 10 years in advance, so just tell us who we play and we’ll play them and compete at it.”

Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin, who was head coach for the Oakland Raiders and head coach at USC and Tennessee, was duly impressed by the Sooners.

“I’d be shocked if there’s a better team in the country that what I saw today,” Kiffin said. “Defense much improved and obviously that was their area of weakness last year. … I wouldn’t be shocked if that team’s going to be playing in the playoffs.”

Kelly said OU won’t have a letdown just because UCLA got upset by Cincinnati.

 “I can guarantee you that Lincoln Riley and Oklahoma doesn’t feel bad for us,” Kelly said. “They could care less. They are waiting to see who the next guy  who comes into their place and we better be ready to play because it’s going to be a heck of a battle next week.”

OU starting quarterback Kyler Murray played so well that he was pulled before halftime. Backup Austin Kendall left the game with a lower leg injury but Coach Lincoln Riley said he might recover enough to play against the Bruins. Sophomore quarterback Tanner Shafer and freshman Tanner Mordecai finished the game in the second half.

“He does a great job,” Kiffin said of Murray. “I’ve said it, Baker (Mayfield) is great and was the No. 1 pick and Heisman winner, but watching film I said during the week that I don’t know that it’s better to play against Kyler (Murray) because he’s faster and harder to get down and we saw that today. Thank God they took him out or he could’ve broke every school record there is.”

Murray threw for 209 yards, hitting 9 of 11 passing attempts that included a 65-yard touchdown pass to wideout Lee Morris.

“He handled it well,” said Riley. “There were definitely some nerves. Everybody has nerves before the first game – it doesn’t matter if you’ve coached for this long or had this many starts, you never know exactly what the first one’s going to be like. Even though he’s played and that helped, the fact that he’s played here and he started at Texas A&M, that probably helped, but there were definitely some nerves. Our guys played well around him. He played very well himself – very efficient. He played very much within himself, threw the ball well.”

Speedy wide receiver Marquise Brown had six catches for 133 yards and one score.

Running back Rodney Anderson scored two touchdowns while rushing for 100 yards in only 5 carries.

“I have been telling people all summer and all spring, the whole year, that just because Baker is gone does not mean that our offense has fallen off or anything,” said Anderson.  “We have been grinding just the same. I feel like we are making steps forward.”

The OU defense, which was criticized for allowing too many yards last season, was improved and held FAU’s high-powered offense to only 324 yards – and the bulk of which came against OU’s second team players.

“Lane (Kiffin) has always been a tremendous play caller,” said OU defensive coordinator Mike Stoops. “They moved the ball on a lot of people. It just didn’t feel like they played anybody the caliber of a Power 5 conference team. That’s where you likely see the size and the strength of your team.

“I thought that was a part of it today. Just our overall depth and physicality I thought was good. I thought we ran to the ball.”

OU linebacker Curtis Bolton was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. He had a career-high six tackles and recovered a punt blocked by teammate Lee Morris for a touchdown.

“It’s always good when you’re a defensive player and you’re getting hands on the ball, regardless of whether that be on special teams but it’s a good feeling,” Bolton said. “It’s not a feeling I get to experience too often.”

It was a good performance but OU coaches and players say they need to improve.

“We’ve got a lot of things to clean up, of course,” Bolton said. “With every game, it’s really, really rare that somebody goes out there and plays a perfect game and even more rare – near impossible – to play a perfect game from a defensive perspective, but I think we did a lot of good things out there. I think a lot of the young guys stepped up.

“I think a lot of guys showed that they could play ball and we’ve got a lot to work on, but that’s what our coaches are for and that’s what practice is Monday through Friday for.”

The blocked punt was the first one for Oklahoma since 2013 and the first one returned for a touchdown since 2002.

Freshman walk-on receiver Drake Stoops, the son of former OU head coach Bob Stoops, caught two passes for 15 yards.

“…after the first game, everybody wants to come to these conclusions about what you are and what you aren’t,” Riley said. “Did we learn something today? Yes. I think we’ve got some quality guys. I think we’ve taken some steps on special teams that I think will continue to be a weapon for us throughout the season. We had some young guys step in there and play very well and the team’s competitive nature is really good right now.

“Now, after that, we’ve got so much left to go, so much left to get better at. It’s a long, long season, and so this is a great start – nothing more than that, nothing less than that.”