No Oklahoma Heisman campaigns for White, Peterson

NORMAN, Okla. -- Don't look for any larger-than-life images of Jason White on New York buildings. An Internet search for an official "Adrian Peterson for Heisman" website will get you nowhere. In this campaign, even the candidates aren't stumping for themselves.

So, what gives?

For all the talk around town about which of Oklahoma's two superstars deserves college football's most prestigious individual award, neither one is pushing for the honor -- except by putting up some mighty impressive numbers each Saturday.

And that's just fine with Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops. In fact, that's the way he thinks it should be. Each week, the No. 2 Sooners include a few paragraphs about both White and Peterson in their usual weekly media briefing. It's nothing overstated, and nothing out of the ordinary.

"We've never had any billboards or anything crazy," Stoops said. "We've always been very appropriate."

Stoops said he prefers not to create a lot of hoopla. All that's needed is a simple comparison of the top candidates.

"I think that's the right thing to do, is make sure the information's there and that's it," Stoops said.

The coach won't get much argument from his players. White's quick to dismiss any chatter about his Heisman candidacy so he can talk about his hopes of winning the Big 12 title and national championship that got away from him last year.

He already has one Heisman Trophy, and his name's on the water tower back home in Tuttle. Another one might be nice, but a national title would be so much more special.

White has already said he'd probably vote for Peterson in the Heisman balloting -- and as a past winner, he does get a vote. One thing's for sure, he won't be checking the box for himself.

"That's not me," he says.

Not that he's unqualified. The humble sixth-year senior has thrown for 2,130 yards and 25 touchdowns with only four interceptions and leads Southern Cal's Matt Leinart in all three categories (Leinart has 2,068 passing yards with 20 TDs and five interceptions). In the past four games -- including three on the road -- he has thrown 16 touchdown passes and one interception while averaging 289 yards per game.