Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said Monday Adrian Peterson’s availability for Saturday’s Big 12 championship game “unlikely.”
Tuesday, he ruled it out altogether.
“Adrian is not going to play,” he said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. “Without being too technical, he’s close. He could be cleared to play, but each week that passes the likelihood of it reoccurring is less and less.”
Peterson, who rushed for 935 yards in the first six games, has missed the last six with a broken collarbone. The eighth-ranked Sooners have won all six of those games and have continued to run the ball effectively with Allen Patrick and Chris Brown. They will handle the running back chores when the Sooners face No. 19 Nebraska at 7 p.m. Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.
Stoops said the injury has healed well enough that Peterson could play. But the bone still isn’t 100 percent.
“There’s still a chance if he fell on it wrong or took a severe hit — I don’t know if they’re totally sure will it hold up at this point?” he said. “We’re not going to take that chance.”
Peterson, who set an NCAA freshman rushing record in 2004 with 1,925 rushing yards, is 150 yards shy of Billy Sims’ all-time OU rushing mark of 4,118 yards.
Stoops still believes Peterson will have a chance to eclipse the mark in a bowl game. The coach still believes the junior will play in the bowl game.
“The bowl game is a very likely possibility and very likely to happen,” he said. “Talking to Adrian, he absolutely wants to play. And by that time, that’s another four weeks of healing … and there is a really small chance of anything happening to it.”
OU Sports
Peterson out
- OU Sports
-
-
It’s a recipe for success
Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso was answering questions Saturday after her Sooners clinched another return to the Women’s College World Series when, without really meaning to, she began to make it clear her job has, sort of, become ...
-
Tigers deny Sooners’ Big 12 title hopes
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma wanted to win its first Big 12 tournament in 16 years on Sunday. Missouri needed to win it to get in the NCAA Tournament. Need topped desire at Bricktown Ballpark....
-
Sooners make winning look easy
As Oklahoma’s players locked arms around the pitching circle, coming together for what passed as a celebration following Saturday’s 7-1 NCAA Super Regional-clinching victory over Arizona, three gloves remained near second base....
-
There are no easy outs in the lineup
Looking for a gameplan to stop Oklahoma? Well, one may or may not be available, but walking two of the first three Sooners you face certainly isn’t part of it. Just ask Arizona’s Kenzie Fowler....
-
Sooners will play for Big 12 championship
OKLAHOMA CITY, — It’s been 16 years since Oklahoma won the Big 12 tournament. It’s closer now than its ever been to ending the streak. The Sooners rolled through Baylor, 7-2, on Saturday at Bricktown Ballpark to advance to the tournament’s ...
-
Sooners send five more to nationals
AUSTIN, Texas — Oklahoma track and field teams had five more individuals qualify for the NCAA Championship on Saturday evening at the NCAA West Preliminary. The men’s 4x100-meter relay team also advanced to the national semifinals....
-
OU sophomore Jao-Javanil wins NCAA golf title
FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Oklahoma’s Chirapat Jao-Javanil made Oklahoma golf history Friday, becoming the first Sooner, man or woman, to win an individual NCAA national championship....
-
Pitching staff is exactly where Golloway wants it to be
When the Big 12 tournament began, Oklahoma felt like it had the pitching staff to make a deep run. Dillon Overton, Jordan John, Jonathan Gray and Damien Magnifico gave them four quality starters and a closer — Steven Okert — capable of ...
-
Sooners shut out Wildcats, need one more win for WCWS entry
Oklahoma might have scored more runs, not committed an error and starting pitcher Keilani Ricketts could have been just a little more efficient along the way....
-
Sooners send 4 more to NCAAs
AUSTIN, Texas – Oklahoma’s track and field teams added four individuals to the list of Sooners advancing to the NCAA championship Friday at the NCAA West Preliminary. In addition to the four new qualifiers, Brittany Borman advanced to the ...
- More OU Sports Headlines
-
It’s a recipe for success
