NORMAN (AP) — Oklahoma may have lost its starting quarterback but can take solace in this simple fact: Adrian Peterson is still a Sooner.
The hard-to-tackle halfback who burst onto the scene by setting an NCAA freshman rushing record is healthy again after an injury-riddled sophomore season, and the Sooners’ hopes for a third BCS berth in four years could rest largely on his mighty shoulders.
“Adrian’s role is going to be that, to me, he’s a heck of a back and I’m going to feed him that ball as much as I can,” new offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said. “I’ve felt like that since I saw him play his first game. Feed that dude the ball.”
Peterson said he’s ready for as many carries as the Sooners need and didn’t flinch when coach Bob Stoops suggested the junior tailback might get up to 35 in a game. His goal is 2,200 rushing yards, reached only by Barry Sanders and Marcus Allen in a season.
But more than “A.D.” himself, the question for the Sooners is whether the players surrounding Peterson can get opposing defenses to lay off him enough for him to carry Oklahoma back to the BCS.
Quarterback Rhett Bomar and lineman J.D. Quinn were kicked off the team three weeks ago for violating NCAA work rules. Stoops almost immediately reinstalled fifth-year senior Paul Thompson as the starter, almost a year after Thompson lost the job to Bomar and moved to receiver.
Thompson, who has more than three years of practice as a backup but only one start, certainly knows the impact Peterson can have.
“Anytime you have a guy like that who can break one for 50, 60 yards at any time, it’s definitely going to help the offense and definitely the quarterback as far as guys coming down and trying to stop him,” Thompson said.
Last year, Oklahoma tried to capitalize on Peterson’s notoriety by having Thompson fake a handoff to Peterson before throwing a deep ball on the first play of the season. Thompson just overshot receiver Travis Wilson, who was wide open.
With his return to quarterback, Thompson expects opposing defenses to again crowd the line against Peterson.
“We’re looking for defenses to do that,” Thompson said. “We’ve got some plays for them.”
Thompson will depend on an unproven front line to protect him.
At receiver, Oklahoma will rely on young wideouts — led by Malcolm Kelly and Juaquin Iglesias — who showed signs of brilliance but haven’t demonstrated that they can replace four receivers Oklahoma has lost to the NFL the past two years.
“We’re going to have run the ball in loaded boxes, but we have had to since he’s been here and we will have to after he’s gone because sometimes you’re going to have to run the ball,” Wilson said. “Running the ball is an attitude, a mind-set, a toughness. There’s an approach to rushing the football.”
The defense can’t claim any ill effects from the sudden ouster of Bomar. And it shouldn’t have to.
Leading tackler Rufus Alexander skipped a chance to enter the NFL draft to earn his degree and anchor the Sooners’ linebacking corps for one more season, and the Sooners have a sudden overload at defensive end, where injuries helped reveal the talents of C.J. Ah You and Calvin Thibodeaux.
But all eyes, at least early on, will be on Peterson and Thompson.
In his one and only chance to share the backfield with Peterson last season, Thompson wasn’t able to lead the Sooners to victory. He threw two interceptions and fumbled once as the Sooners lost their opener to TCU 17-10.
But even that chance wasn’t a full one. Stoops pulled Thompson in the second quarter, and it was Bomar who eventually fumbled to set up TCU’s winning score.
Early this fall, Stoops admitted he and his staff didn’t put Thompson in the best position to win because he was operating an offense more suited for predecessors Jason White, Nate Hybl and Josh Heupel than it was for him.
Wilson said he is doing his best to relieve pressure on Thompson this time. He’s told Thompson he intends to stick with him through bad times and reminded him he doesn’t have to carry all the burden.
“The first thing the quarterback can do is he’s the first guy on the field that can beat our football team,” Wilson said. “We told Paul that we don’t need him to put the team on his shoulders, that we have a tremendous team, outstanding on the defense, a lot of talent on offense, and his job is to get in synch with us to manage the players that are around him.”
That doesn’t mean the Sooners are afraid to let Thompson throw.
“You still have to take advantage of what the defense is giving you and get the ball downfield and get the ball in open spaces,” Wilson said, “if you’re going to be a championship team.”
