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Orange rush: the early returns on a few BCS favorites have come in. Freshman running back Adrian Peterson has turned Oklahoma's weakness into a strength, giving the Sooners balance and a championship makeup, but co-defending champs LSU and USC look vulnerable

Sporting News, The, Sept 27, 2004 by Matt Hayes

There is no blueprint. Remember the magical formula Kansas State and LSU used to slay mighty Oklahoma in the last two games of 2003 when there was this ridiculous notion the Sooners were the best team ever? Well, it didn't really exist.

There was nothing unique about the way those final two games unfolded. OU struggled in pass protection and didn't have enough of a running game to keep defenses from using pressure. That's it.

Suddenly, that so-called blueprint doesn't look so foolproof. Suddenly, three games into a year of redemption, OU quarterback Jason White looks a lot like the guy who won the Heisman Trophy by ringing up huge numbers in the first 12 games last season. Suddenly, OU has found the answer to the blueprint. His name is Adrian Peterson.

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"Just when you think you've got us figured out," says wideout Mark Clayton, "we've got another surprise for you."

This really shouldn't surprise anyone. What we have here is Peterson, the nation's most highly touted high school recruit, playing the way everyone believed he would. A running back that has made Oklahoma even more dangerous on offense and more of a complete team. In the process, the Sooners have gone from a team full of questions to a team that looks better than last season's--a team that looks as though it finally can live up to those ridiculous expectations, only a year later than planned.

Peterson ran for his third consecutive 100-yard game last week, bowling over Oregon for 183 yards and continuing to tear away at the "blueprint."

Oregon tried to blitz White early on, tried to force quick throws and poor decisions, just like K-State and LSU had with so much success. Then Peterson starting ripping off chunks of yards on shotgun handoffs and sweeps, and the Ducks had to back away from the formula. And suddenly--ta-da!--passing lanes opened, White was his accurate, efficient self, and the Sooners rolled to a 31-7 laugher.

This was a team that couldn't run with enough success to give its offense balance in big games, and two teams took advantage of it. The Sooners didn't play a big game last year (we don't count Texas anymore) until the Big 12 championship game, and the "best offense ever" was exposed for what it was: a one-dimensional unit.

Now with balance provided by Peterson, this truly has the potential to be one of the best offenses in the modern era of the game.

All because of a 19-year-old freshman phenom who, at this point, has been restrained only by OU coach Bob Stoops. Stoops wants no part of Peterson getting big-headed, so he has limited his access to the media. Look, if Peterson hasn't already become full of himself, it's not going to happen now.

A year ago, Peterson had coaches from USC, Miami and UCLA arguing in the middle of the football office at his high school. Seems as though they couldn't agree on who got to tiny Palestine, Texas, first and who was first in line to speak to the best high school player in America. This is a guy who rushed for nearly 3,000 yards in his senior season and was so utterly dominant that high school players from other teams asked for his autograph after games last year.

He is 6-2 and tightly packed at 215 pounds, and everyone in Crimson and Cream is comparing him with Marcus Dupree, the former OU phenom who turned Norman sideways with his barreling, bruising style.

The difference is, Dupree worked for his yards; it looks effortless for Peterson, whose speed and uncanny shakes and wiggles roll into one sweet symphony.

Here's the crazy part: Peterson still isn't starting. Stoops adamantly says junior Kejuan Jones, who has 30 career touchdowns, runs with the first team. In fact, if Jones hadn't sustained nagging injuries in the past two games, Peterson probably wouldn't have gotten half of his 49 carries in those games.

"He's a man out there," says Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti. "He's a freshman, and he probably doesn't really know what he's doing right now. Wait until he starts to grasp everything."

He has grasped just about everything else. He is, as Stoops says, "a young man beyond his years." Peterson was 7 years old when a drunken driver killed his older brother. Five years ago, his father was sentenced to 10 years in prison for laundering money acquired from the distribution of crack cocaine.

And now Peterson is thrown into this meat grinder, where he is being compared with OU greats and where he is the savior of an offense that was blueprinted not so long ago. Still looking for a blueprint? Find a running back like Peterson.

And ride him all the way to the Orange Bowl and a championship season.

Orange rush: the early returns on a few BCS favorites have come in. Freshman running back Adrian Peterson has turned Oklahoma's weakness into a strength, giving the Sooners balance and a championship makeup, but co-defending champs LSU and USC look vulnerable

Sporting News, The, Sept 27, 2004 by Matt Hayes

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