College Sports: 5 points to take on Oklahoma's victory over UCLA: Rodney Anderson's injury puts the cloud on a convincing victory

NORMAN, Okla. – Oklahoma defeated UCLA 49-21 on Saturday with strong performances from quarterback Kyler Murray, catcher CeeDee Lamb and Mike Stoops' defense.

Here are five points to remember about OU's victory over the Bruins:

Injury of Rodney Anderson

Even with Oklahoma's big win, Norman's attention will immediately go to Heisman's potential candidate Rodney Anderson. The wearer left the match with a knee injury after a 10-yard run that ended the first quarter.

Anderson finally returned to the OU bench, but in street clothes and a heavily wrapped knee. The good news for Oklahoma fans: he did not use crutches and was seen walking on the sideline, which could eliminate any serious damage to the ligaments.

However, if Anderson misses a significant time, this could mean problems for the Sooners. Substitutes Trey Sermon and Marcelias Sutton are helpful, but neither the ceiling corresponds to Anderson's.

Kyler Murray was a little unbalanced

Kyler Murray was a little depressed against the Bruins. The stats line is still good – 19 out of 33 for 306 yards and three touchdowns, plus two more points on the floor – but he made mistakes.

Murray launched his first interception of the year on a 50/50 ball that preceded him. He had several passes shot down the line of scrimmage and seemed out of sync with receivers on a few occasions. All things considered, not a bad performance, but there are things that OR can clean up before facing the Iowa State next weekend.

Murray had a good connection with CeeDee Lamb, who led the team with seven catches for 146 yards and a score.

The front of OR is real

UCLA took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Bruins did not pick up the score until the match was decided in the fourth quarter. A big reason for this? The UO front continued to dominate.

OR & # 39; s first team The defense limited UCLA to just 2.2 yards per race and completely controlled the line of scrimmage vs. first-quarter rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Thompson-Robinson was sacked six times and the Sooners scored 12 for a loss, four more than they had in a game last season.

Kenneth Murray was a big reason for success, paving the way for the fight against loss. Mark Jackson also had a big game, leading the team in tackles with 10 points, while recording a tackle for the loss.

Racing game a fight

After playing the ball easily last week against the FAU, the Sooners struggled on Saturday. The strength of the UCLA team lies in its linebackers, so the problems could have been predicted – but that remains a source of concern.

Maybe things would have been different with Anderson in the game. Sermon (13 yards on seven litters) did not seem to be the answer. Sutton was more efficient and accumulated 33 yards in five touchdowns. He was the OU's first running back besides Murray, who won 69 yards in 10 carries.

By eliminating Murray from the equation, the Sooners accumulated a little more than four yards per carry.

Improvements to special teams

Oklahoma special teams continue to see major improvements. Tre Brown, on his return, and CeeDee Lamb, in turn, both played important roles in special teams that brought the Sooners into the red zone.

Oklahoma converted these two returns into points. Brown's return was particularly important as it came immediately after the Bruins took a 7-0 lead. The OR scored three times later and never looked back.