RB Respect Month Vol. 2, Day Four: Adrian Peterson shows Texas he's the real deal (2004)
All Day at the 2004 State Fair of Texas.
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Welcome to day four of Running Back Respect Month™! Yesterday, Jacquizz Rodgers led Oregon State's massive upset of USC in 2008. Here's where we're at today, and how the rest of the month looks:
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Today: Adrian Peterson vs. Texas (2004)
RB Respect Month Vol. 2, Day Four: Adrian Peterson shows Texas he's the real deal (2004)
If you're a college football fan of any age, I don't need to be the millionth person to tell you what the hype around Adrian Peterson was like during his freshman year in 2004 - but I'm going to anyway. He was the top-rated recruit in the country, had a highlight reel that felt like him playing against other high-schoolers should be illegal, and was one of those guys you just knew would be great.
Somehow, he was even better than advertised when he got to Oklahoma. Peterson ran for 543 yards (6.3) and six touchdowns in OU's first four games, breaking the 100-yard mark each time. Heading into a top-five showdown with hated rival Texas, the Peterson hype train was moving at such force that he graced the vaunted cover of Sports Illustrated:
Naturally, this made everyone wonder if there was too much pressure on the freshman phenom. Was he receiving too much attention too soon? Would the stage of a top-five rivalry game against Texas –the in-state program he spurned because Mack Brown said he wouldn't start for them– overwhelm him? Surely he'd succumb to the dreaded SI cover curse, right?
32 carries and 225 yards later, Peterson assured the whole football world that there was no such thing as too much hype when it came to him:
