'AD' adding more carries to heavy load
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
8/5/2006
NORMAN -- In 1968, Oklahoma running back Steve Owens set a school record by averaging 35.7 rushing attempts per game. The next year, Owens reset the mark at 35.8 and won a Heisman Trophy.
Friday, during media day interviews inside the Red Room of the Switzer Center, Sooners head coach Bob Stoops said he thought it would be "fair" for Peterson to average close to that.
"I thought last year we probably ran him about as much as he needs to (29.1, in games in which Peterson was healthy)," Stoops said. "I think game-to-game that depends. But let's face it, he needs to get a significant number of carries and touches (catching) the football."
Stoops tempered his calculation by suggesting that if defenses are having a hard time stopping the passing game this season, it's reasonable to expect Peterson's carries to drop -- to, say, 23, Stoops said.
"I think game to game determines that," Stoops said. "I think it's fair that he should carry it somewhere between 30 and 35 times a game, maybe."
Stoops' range would also include pass receptions, so it's likely that Owens' record is safe. Still, Peterson fears no number. Asked about his coach's comments, Peterson smiled wide.
"Hmm, that sounds pretty good. I wouldn't
complain about that," he said. "Thirty-five sounds pretty good to me. I say let's keep it at that."
If Peterson stays healthy for all 12 regular-season games and averages 30 carries per game, he'll finish with 360 -- ahead of Owens' 1969 mark of 358, but just off Owens' standard of 393 set in 1968. Then again, there's a possible Big 12 championship game (390) and a bowl game (420) that would easily put him over the top.
In 2004, Peterson led the nation with 339 rushing attempts, an average of 26.1 per game. Last year's leader, Wisconsin's Brian Calhoun, ran 348 times, an average of 28.6 per game. Peterson's single-game high is 36, set in 2004 at Kansas State. He's surpassed 30 carries five times (four in '04). During his career (not counting the four games he was injured last season), Peterson has averaged 27.2 carries per game.
One thing is almost certain: opponents will crowd the line of scrimmage this season just as much if not more than they did early last season. That means less running room up front, which means more defenders will get a shot at Peterson. Some might not be clean shots.
"Let 'em do that," said quarterback Paul Thompson. "If they want to do that, I'm going to hit them deep, hit them with some slants, beat the blitz. Eventually, they're going to have to respect it. If not, then that's on them.
"They're definitely going to (want to) stop AD, and who could blame them?"
Peterson has a similar faith in Thompson. TCU didn't respect Thompson's passing in last year's season-opener, and Thompson didn't take advantage of the empty secondary. TCU won the game and Peterson was a non-factor.
Now, Thompson has spent almost a year focusing on playing wide receiver. After Rhett Bomar's dismissal Wednesday, Thompson is back under center. Think teams will respect his passing in early games this year?
"I'm pretty sure they'll all stack the box anyway," Peterson said. "But I'm pretty sure he'll make them pay, along with the receiving corps."
Is it reasonable that Peterson could challenge Owens' skyscraping single-game record of 55 carries?
"Hey, I don't know. Knowing Adrian? Could he? Probably," Stoops said. "He's a strong, strong guy in the way he runs, and awfully tough."
Peterson doesn't make predictions, but he does reveal his goals if asked. He said again Friday that his personal goal this season would be to reach 2,200 yards rushing and 400-500 yards receiving.
Asked if he also had set his sights on Billy Sims' career rushing record of 4,118 yards -- 1,089 ahead of his two-year total of 3,029 -- Peterson said, "Actually, that wasn't like one of my goals. But when you think about the goals I said, about 2,200 yards, you can kind of put that in there with it."
What, then, would Peterson consider a good year if he didn't reach his goal of 2,200? Two thousand? Eighteen hundred?
"Eighteen," he nodded, "and a Big 12 and a national championship. You know, that's a good year."
Would he trade rushing glory for championships?
"Oh yeah. If I had a hundred yards," he said. "Yeah. Put me at receiver."
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John E. Hoover 581-8384
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