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Kansas City, Mo. — Adrian Peterson did the math when setting up his 2006 aspirations.

Fourteen games, if everything goes right for Oklahoma University's football team. Right at 150 yards rushing per game. Throw in another 100 yards on the season because, hey, why shoot at all if you're not shooting for the stars?

That's 2,200 yards rushing on the nose. That likely will earn Peterson the Heisman Trophy. It'll help Oklahoma win football games. It'll help his NFL resume, like that even needs any help.

That's why 2,200 yards, as large a number as it is, is Peterson's target for 2006.

"I set my goals high," Peterson said. "That's how I am."

Peterson has waited a year to make a worthwhile encore from his celebrated debut as a freshman in 2004. The Heisman runner-up that year, Peterson rumbled for 1,925 yards and 15 touchdowns, wowing the college football nation with a combination of size (6-foot-2, 215 pounds) and speed (a 4.37-second 40-yard dash) just months removed from high school in Texas.

Courtesy Photo

Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson enters the 2006 season as one of the front-runners for the Heisman Trophy.

An ankle injury in 2005 derailed what was shaping up to be a historic career. He missed one game completely, was ineffective and hobbled in three others, and still rushed for 1,108 yards and 14 touchdowns for the 8-4 Sooners.

Still, he fell - albeit briefly - off the national radar. But he wasn't forgotten.

Peterson joins Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn as the Heisman favorite coming into 2006. He wouldn't bite when asked to flatter himself about his Heisman chances, but he did admit that, deep down, it'd be a pretty sweet trophy to have on his mantle.

"I don't think about the Heisman much," Peterson said. "It's something that I would love to win.

"I've been wanting to win it since I was a kid. But it's not my main focus."

Cyclones experienced ...

Iowa State is experiencing a fortunate rarity in its offense this year.

Along with having proven skilled players returning like quarterback Bret Meyer, running back Stevie Hicks and receivers Jon Davis, Todd Blythe and Austin Flynn, the Cyclones have five senior offensive linemen projected to start: Scott Fisher, Seth Zehr, Scott Stephenson, Paul Fisher and Aaron Brant.

It's the only Big 12 team with that much age up front.

"The game is won in the trenches and lost in the trenches," Meyer said, "so having that experience is good."

... Aggies not

On the flip side, Texas A&M recently had a standout prep player from College Station, Texas, enroll and join the football team fresh out of his junior year of high school.

Matt Szymanski, a 17-year old cannon-legged kicker who booted a 61-yard field goal in the state semifinals last season, skipped his senior year of high school to enroll at Texas A&M, where his father is a professor. It's believed that only one other player has left high school a full year early to play major-college football - current Southern California quarterback John David Booty.

"I think you have to put him in the mix," Franchione said. "He was in our kicking camp last summer after his sophomore year, and there was no doubt then that he'd be an exceptional kicker."

Barmann transfers

Missouri's depth at tight end may have been key in Brian Barmann, brother of Kansas University quarterback Adam Barmann, choosing to transfer elsewhere this year.

Brian Barmann enrolled at Northern Colorado this summer, after two years, a red shirt and 10 games at Mizzou. He did not catch any passes during his brief stay in Columbia.

Barmann will be a sophomore for the Bears, a I-AA program that plays in the Big Sky Conference.

Quote of the day

I've got bigger bags under my eyes, less hair, more wrinkles. That's part of being the dean."

- Iowa State coach Dan McCarney, the longest-tenured coach in the Big 12. He has been at Iowa State since 1995.