Heisman Trophy isn't Peterson's only motivation

	Adrian Peterson ran for 1,108 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2005 despite suffering a high ankle sprain in the season opener. John W. McDonough/SI
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As Reggie Bush accepted his Heisman Trophy, Adrian Peterson was nowhere near New York. He watched Bush and finalists Matt Leinart and Vince Young on television, and it hit him: He'd gone from 2004 runner-up to completely out of the equation -- and it left him with a chip on his shoulder.

"I was sweeping my floor. It kind of just dawned on me that anything can happen and you've got to be able to handle what happens and take it for what it is," Peterson said. "I just take it for what it is and try to make up for it in any way you can."

Fully recovered from a high ankle sprain that limited his production last season, the Oklahoma junior tailback isn't making a return trip to NYC his driving force (but it's a given he'll be back if he can stay healthy). There's proving that a Peterson-led Sooners team that ended the year as one of the hottest teams in the country is again worthy of being in the national championship discussion.

"We go through workouts, all these guys. We bust our butts. Guys are sweating, blood, tears sometimes, trying to get ready for this upcoming year," Peterson said. "It's a team sport.... Winning a national championship is what matters."

And there's his family.

When Adrian was seven, he saw his brother Brian die at the hands of a drunken driver while the two were riding a bicycle. His father, Nelson, went to federal prison when Adrian was in seventh grade for laundering money obtained through the distribution of crack cocaine. He also said his grandfather had recently passed away.

"I just want to do good for them and make those people proud," Peterson said. "Stuff like that keeps me motivated and keeps me on the straight and narrow."

Come Sept. 2, though, Nelson Peterson may get to see his son play in person at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium for the first time. Adrian is hopeful that his father, who is in a halfway house, will be out in time for the season opener against UAB.

"It's going to be crazy just being able to look in the stands and see him in the stands," Peterson said. "I don't know. That's maybe going to give me the extra drive that I need."

Peterson has put on 13 pounds from last year -- he's now up to 223 -- and was able to go through spring practice for the first time: He missed last spring after having offseason shoulder surgery and wasn't on campus before his first season.

"I was able to knock off a lot of rust, get better in shape and put on a little weight also," Peterson said. "Being able to go through spring for the first time really helped me out a lot."

During a freshman campaign in which he ran for 1,925 yards and finished second behind Leinart in the Heisman voting, Peterson had the luxury of playing in the same backfield as Heisman winner Jason White. A year later White was gone, the offensive line had lost three four-year starters and the focus was on the Sooners' only real threat: Peterson. He mustered 63 yards on 22 carries and injured his ankle in a shocking season-opening loss to TCU. Though he missed one game and had a three-week stretch in which he ran for 57 yards, Peterson still finished with 1,108 yards and 14 touchdowns, including 626 over the last four games of the year.

"I thought he handled [the injury] incredibly well," head coach Bob Stoops said. "Obviously I was watching very closely to see what his reactions would be dealing with the frustration. Through it all, what I appreciated, was how many times he kept trying to come back. There's a lot of superstars who would protect themselves, but that was never him."