With One Star, Sooners Aren’t OK

Like USC, Oklahoma had two Heisman Trophy finalists in the same backfield last season.

For the Sooners’ Adrian Peterson, it looks as if having the spotlight to himself now that quarterback Jason White is gone might not be so good for his Heisman chances after all.

As a freshman last season, Peterson rushed for 1,925 yards and finished second in the Heisman voting to USC’s Matt Leinart.

White, the 2003 winner, was third. USC’s Reggie Bush was fifth.

This season, Leinart and Bush are together again, still keeping defenses from zeroing in on the pass or the run.

Peterson is alone with a new quarterback -- or two -- behind a rebuilt offensive line.

He rushed for only 63 yards in 22 carries in Texas Christian’s 17-10 upset of No. 7 Oklahoma on the Sooners’ field.

It was only the third time in Peterson’s young career he has failed to reach 100 yards.

He managed only five yards in his first eight carries and at one point left the game with an injured ankle, though he later returned.

From the looks of Oklahoma’s quarterback situation and concerns about the offensive line, he’s going to have more long days.

Quarterback Paul Thompson and backup Rhett Bomar combined to complete 13 of 31 passes for 128 yards with one interception. Worse, Bomar fumbled when he was sacked in the fourth quarter, and TCU recovered and scored the winning touchdown four plays later.

Peterson’s best stretch came when he gained 43 yards in six carries during a scoring drive to open the second half.

“We thought we had put it together,” Peterson said. “After that, we just lost it. This is one game we’re going to learn from.”

It’s difficult to guess how quickly the Oklahoma players -- who travel to the Rose Bowl to play UCLA on Sept. 17 -- can learn.

The 11 offensive players who started in the 55-19 loss to USC in the BCS title game last season had started a combined 301 games.

The 11 who started Saturday for Oklahoma had started 130.

It is, of course, the first Saturday of the season. But Peterson’s first moment to shine alone is gone, eclipsed by performances by such lesser-known running backs as Wisconsin’s Brian Calhoun, who rushed for 258 yards and five touchdowns, and Minnesota’s Laurence Maroney, who rushed for 203 yards, sprinted 67 yards for a touchdown on his first play of the season and finished his dash with a somersault into the end zone.

And then there were Leinart and Bush, who coexisted just fine in USC’s 63-17 vacation in Hawaii.

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Yes, We Were Looking Ahead

Ohio State will play Texas on Saturday in a clash of top-10 teams that marks the first time the schools have met in football.

The Buckeyes’ 34-14 season-opening victory against Miami of Ohio wasn’t over before minds started wandering.

“Probably in the middle of the fourth today. I’m not going to lie,” Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel said.

Offensive lineman Rob Sims was even more frank: “Honestly, my thoughts have been on Texas for a long, long time,” he said. “I’m glad to finally get to it.”

The Buckeyes got to the trash-talking early too.

Linebacker Bobby Carpenter provided bulletin-board material for the Longhorns and star quarterback Vince Young, who had his coming-out party in last season’s Rose Bowl game when he rushed for 192 yards and four touchdowns and passed for 180 yards against Michigan.

Said Carpenter: “Our goal is when Vince Young leaves here he won’t be a candidate for the Heisman.”

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A Ty Would Have Been Nice

There are no more ties in college football, of course, but anything would have felt better to Washington players than the way they lost to Air Force in Tyrone Willingham’s debut as coach after three seasons at Notre Dame.

The Huskies, looking a bit like the Irish in gold helmets, white jerseys with no names and gold pants, had a 17-6 lead in the fourth quarter. They lost, 20-17, after Air Force scored with 34 seconds left in the game. It was the seventh loss in a row for Washington, which has won only one of its last 12 games.

“This hurts,” cornerback Matt Fountaine said. “It hurts the guys on the team a lot more than anything that happened last year hurt. That feeling that’s in our stomachs right now, we’ve got to be able to shake it off.”

Better make that quick. California, which was ranked 19th this week, is next.

“They could care less about what you did last week and how your emotions are,” Fountaine said. “If you don’t want to feel this way again, you’ve got to get a win.”

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Urban Legend

Florida Coach Urban Meyer, who helped mold Utah quarterback Alex Smith into the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, also had a hand in the career of Bowling Green quarterback Omar Jacobs, who passed for 458 yards and five touchdowns in the Falcons’ 56-42 shootout loss to Wisconsin.

His choices were Florida Atlantic or Buffalo before Meyer, then the Bowling Green coach, recruited him two weeks before signing day in 2002.

“I didn’t know where Bowling Green was,” Jacobs, a 6-foot-4, 226-pound quarterback known for his long hair, told the Toledo Blade. “You kind of wonder what happened. But God works in mysterious ways and things happen for a reason. I’m glad I’m here now.”

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Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Sophomore slump

Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson, who finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting last season as a freshman, did not come close to matching his 2004 game averages in Saturday’s loss to Texas Christian:

VS. TEXAS CHRISTIAN

* 22 carries, 63 yards (2.9 avg.)

2004 AVERAGES

* 26 carries, 148 yards (5.7 avg.)