Oklahoma’s quarterback competition has been the overwhelming focus for media and fans throughout preseason practice.

The Sooners have gone through 17 practices and three scrimmages over the last 17 days and it seems every workout, at least offensively, has been designed to find out whether Paul Thompson or Rhett Bomar will lead OU’s offense.

In the three scrimmages, Thompson and Bomar combined to throw the ball 134 times as OU’s passing game has been on display for all to see.

However, a huge part of OU’s offense has been lurking in the shadows — the running game. That, of course, centers around sophomore running back Adrian Peterson, who was held out of all three scrimmages as a precautionary measure.

OU coach Bob Stoops knows how important Peterson is to the Sooners’ fortunes. Trying to gauge the Sooners’ offense without Peterson is like comparing night and day. s

“He changes the whole picture,” Stoops said.

And everyone on OU’s roster knows it.

Offensive lineman Davin Joseph said Peterson is what gives the Sooner offense its power. All OU has done in the three scrimmages is show its finesse.

“Having Adrian back there adds more versatility to the offense,” Joseph said. “Without him back there, we’ve been focusing on the quarterbacks during the scrimmages. It kind of puts (the offense) in a position where we’ve been more pass oriented.

“We haven’t really been ourselves. We’ve haven’t been able to get after guys and really pound them.”

That should change when the season begins. For all the talk having to do with the quarterback competition, OU’s offense will likely end up centered around the unique talent out of Palestine, Texas.

Peterson carried the ball 339 times last season and established an NCAA freshman record for rushing yards with 1,925. Those totals came during a season in which he missed two weeks of practice due to a shoulder injury and spent the first five games splitting time with Kejuan Jones.

He managed to shine on the field anyway.

“When he came in, the majority of the plays, he didn’t really know,” Joseph said. “He’d run right past us while we were trying to block for him.”

Peterson has matured in his short time with the program. While all the preseason attention is focused on the quarterbacks, it should shift toward him when the games start counting. He knows it as well as anybody.