College football duos: Ranking the 32 best dynamic duos in modern history

15. Jason White and Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma

Jason White seems like one of the forgotten greats of college football’s most recent era. White was a back-to-back Heisman Trophy candidate, winning the award in 2003. He was a two-time Davey O’Brien Award winner, an AP Player of the Year, a Maxwell Award winner, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and an All-American. White was downright dominant on the football field. That is when he wasn’t tearing his ACL (which he did twice while at Oklahoma).

Once White finally stayed on the field, he was the best quarterback in college football. He also helped bring Oklahoma back to the forefront. Before White came on campus, Oklahoma was going through a brutal stretch. They haven’t won the then-Big Eight Conference between 1987-2000. Since White left Oklahoma, where they won the conference in his two full seasons as a starter, the Sooners won the Big 12 11 out of the past 16 years.

White’s best offense came in his final year. Even though it wasn’t his Heisman winning season, it was the season he welcomed a freshman running back named Adrian Peterson. White had just come off a season with 3,800 yards and 40 touchdowns. Peterson came and immediately ran for 1,925 yards. It was one of the best freshman seasons for a running back ever.

Pairing these two together was a match made in heaven. Peterson finished second in Heisman voting and White finished third for the 2004 season. Oklahoma won every game until the National Championship, which we won’t talk about.