Terrebonne special athletes go for gold
September 21, 2010
Geraldine Spencer
September 23, 2010
LSU junior Patrick Peterson isn’t afraid to set the bar too high.
Prior to the season, Peterson went out on a limb and said he wanted to become just the second Tigers player to ever win the coveted Heisman Trophy – awarded to college football’s best player.
“That’s the goal,” Peterson said at LSU’s Media Day. “To get this team back to the top, and to win the Heisman Trophy. That’s what I want to do.”
Just one game into his junior season, Peterson showed his wish might not be so far-fetched after all.
Peterson doused North Carolina’s special teams unit in the season opener, returning a punt for a touchdown and gaining 257 total return yards, putting him less than 10 yards shy of the all-time Southeastern Conference record for return yardage in a single game.
That performance made a believer of LSU coach Les Miles who is now on board the Peterson for Heisman express.
“He has great vision, great ball skills and great speed,” Miles said following the season opening win against North Carolina. “I don’t know the validity of making a guy a Heisman Trophy candidate. But I would say that he had the kind of night tonight on a national level that would put him in line for any national award, including the very highest.”
Peterson signed with LSU in the 2008 recruiting class as one of the top prospects in America.
In his first two seasons in purple and gold, the 6-foot-1-inch, 222-pounder kept opposing receivers in check as an All-SEC cornerback.
In his freshman season, Peterson recorded 41 tackles, an interception and four pass deflections.
Last season, those numbers improved, as he recorded 52 tackles, two interceptions and 15 pass deflections.
But with Trindon Holliday gone and Miles craving explosiveness in the Tigers’ special teams attack, Peterson’s role has expanded this year beyond just defense – which was North Carolina’s downfall in his first-ever game with the football in his hands.
“The only thing I can tell you is Patrick Peterson is pretty special, and I think that will be born out to be truer and truer as we go through,” Miles said.
LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis agreed and said he “could go on all day,” about the Tigers’ cornerback and the progression he has made as a player and as a leader in this past offseason.
“He did a great job for us last year and certainly the year before,” Chavis said at preseason media day. “We anticipate him having an outstanding year. Patrick, probably without making comparisons, it would be easy for me to say that he’s as good and has the opportunity to keep growing as anybody I’ve ever been around. He has all the tools … He’s the entire package.”
So with the first game out of the way and Peterson’s junior season off without a hitch, some Tiger fans are wondering if Peterson’s role will expand even more.
Could offense be in Peterson’s repertoire before the year is over?
It’s something that Miles said he and his staff is looking at, after watching the way Peterson looks with the football in his hands.
“Yes, there has been a lot of thought to that, to be honest with you,” Miles said when asked if he and offensive coordinator Gary Crowton were considering playing Peterson as a part-time receiver.
And while some around the conference are touting Peterson’s success as beginner’s luck, or as a result of a depleted North Carolina defense, Miles said he believes there will be more 200+-yard days in his junior’s future.
“I expect he will have more evenings and Saturday afternoons like that in his career with us,” Miles said.
Peterson said he sees no reason why his coach’s proclamation cannot come true.
And despite some minor cramping issues in the North Carolina game, Peterson said he’s as healthy as he’s ever been in an LSU uniform.
The junior gained approximately 15 pounds of muscle in the summer to prepare himself to shoulder the new role his coaches placed onto him in the spring – a role he said he “loves.”
After all he said this entire offseason was all about getting his body primed for a season that he hoped would be special – Heisman Trophy special.
“This is the best I’ve ever felt playing football. I feel so much faster and so much swifter,” he said. “With me being big, 222 pounds, actually I feel like I’m 115. I feel like I’m running with the wind out there.”
LSU junior defensive Patrick Peterson returns a punt during LSU’s 30-24 win against North Carolina. Peterson’s early season success has him as one of the candidates for the Heisman Trophy. CASEY GISCLAIR
