NORMAN — There were times last season when the roommates would sit in their dorm and dream.

Sam Bradford and DeMarco Murray could hardly wait for their time.

It finally came Saturday, and my, oh my, how they took advantage of their Oklahoma debuts.

On an evening the Sooners routed North Texas 79-10, tuning up for Miami by dominating from beginning to end, Bradford and Murray stole the show. Pundits, both amateur and professional, wondered how these newbies would perform under the Saturday night lights.

Question answered.

Bradford completed 21 of 23 attempts for 363 yards and three touchdowns, breaking the school record for passing yards in a half with 350.

Murray rushed for 87 yards and five touchdowns, becoming the first player to score four touchdowns in a half in his Sooner debut.

But against a North Texas team that was even worse than expected, what are we to make of all this?

"We understand that they haven't been there for long,” Sooner coach Bob Stoops said of Todd Dodge and his staff at North Texas. "We have a perspective on it.”

In other words, North Texas is no where close to what OU will see in the Big 12 or even next week.

"The weeks to come ... we'll get schematically more challenged,” offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said. "When the coverage isn't changing and there's not a lot of disguising, that's a little bit easier.

"Probably made those numbers look like, ‘Wow, look at how good this guy is going to be.' ”

Hold off the Heisman talk — for now.

While North Texas is hardly the stick by which to measure Bradford and Murray, they showed glimpses of greatness. They carried themselves like veterans, and they made plays when they needed to produce. They have bright todays and even brighter tomorrows.

Rest assured, they will struggle. They are just redshirt freshmen, after all.

But after seeing the way they handled their business Saturday, they could be something truly special.

This was the first game of the season of their dreams.

Bradford and Murray roomed together last year after meeting on their recruiting visit getting to know each other last summer.

"Right there then, we wanted to be roommates,” Murray said. "Quarterback and running back, we wanted to get to know each other a little more.”

Bradford discovered that Murray was the clean one while Murray realized that Bradford likes both country and rap music.

But as much as anything, they supported each other through their redshirt seasons.

"We'd fight through it every day,” Murray said.

As they battled the tough times, they dreamed of better ones. They talked about what it would be like when they got back on the field, when they got their chance to show what they could do.

On the bus ride to the stadium Saturday, Murray hollered at his old roomie. Bradford hollered back.

"We knew it was time,” Bradford said.

And when they saw each other on the sidelines, they'd smile and nod.

"We were just so excited,” Bradford said after the game. "Tonight was fun.”

After what Bradford and Murray did Saturday, this season might just be tons of fun for the Sooners.