Oklahoma football: Mount Rushmore of all-time Sooner RBs
By Chip Rouse
Adrian Peterson
Adrian Peterson is from an Oklahoma football era that came much later than our other Mount Rushmoresque OU running backs. Nicknamed “All Day” because of his incredible strength and stamina (he gets stronger as the game goes longer),
Peterson was a highly recruited running back out of Palestine, Texas, who chose to play at Oklahoma (over USC and Texas) because, he said, he wanted to go to a school where he could be a difference maker and play for a national championship contender.
Oklahoma was 12-1 and did play for the national championship in Peterson’s first OU season (interestingly, losing to USC), and the freshman running back was a major contributor to that championship run. He set an NCAA record 1,925 rushing yards and 339 carries in 2004, along with 15 touchdowns, a performance that earned him the runner-up spot in that season’s Heisman voting.
He rushed for more than 100 yards in each of his first nine games as an Okahoma Sooner.
Injuries his sophomore and junior seasons, limited his playing time, but Peterson still gained over 1,000 yards both years.
With 4,041 career rushing yards, Peterson ranks fourth on the Oklahoma career list. His 22 career 100-yard rushing games, however, ranks second in program history.