Oklahoma State University Athletics
Know Your Cowboys - Kevin Peterson
November 13, 2013 | Cowboy Football
Nov. 13, 2013
By Blake Zimmerman
STILLWATER - Cornerback Kevin Peterson got plenty of playing time as an Oklahoma State freshman in 2012, including becoming a starter at the end of the season, but it wasn't the first time he played at Boone Pickens Stadium.
In 2010, Peterson was a junior at Wagoner High School, which punched a ticket to the Oklahoma 4A State Championship Game in Stillwater. The Bulldogs lost a heartbreaker to Oklahoma City Douglass, 20-13, in overtime.
In 2011, Peterson's senior year, Wagoner made it back to Boone Pickens Stadium for the championship game, and Peterson made sure they would not suffer the same fate. Peterson ran for 246 yards on 23 carries, scoring two touchdowns, as Wagoner blanked Clinton, 23-0. Those games ended up being a factor in his decision on where to play college football.
"I always liked OSU growing up," Peterson said. "My parents are huge fans, and it was always my No. 1 choice. Getting to play in Boone Pickens Stadium was awesome, but since we lost my junior year, I had to make sure we went back. Playing in that stadium helped me to know I made the right choice, coming to OSU. It's special to know I won my last high school game here, and I'll play here my whole collegiate career."
Even though OSU was Peterson's childhood team, he first committed to the University of Oklahoma.
"Even though my parents are huge OSU fans, pretty much everyone else in my family loves OU," Peterson said. "I was committed to OU for about a month when two of the coaches who recruited me left and took other jobs. When that happened, I wanted to check out OSU since it has always kind of been my first love."
Although some of Peterson's family members haven't been lifelong OSU fans, they now have a reason to come watch the Cowboys.
"My parents try to make it to at least every home game," Peterson said. "My grandparents come to every game. They don't care where it's being played, they're going to be there for every game."
Peterson started to impress right away as a freshman, earning valuable playing time and becoming a starter by the end of the season. OSU defensive backs coach Van Malone said it was easy to have confidence in the young corner.
"The thing I've always liked about (Peterson) is he is a smart player," Malone said. "He works hard in the film room, he loves football and he loves to play defensive back the way we do it -- aggressive, man-to-man coverage much of the time. You have to have a different makeup to play that way, and he has since he's stepped on campus. He has resilience. He's shown the ability to bounce back, work and learn the techniques the way we've asked him to. When you have a guy who is committed to doing that and has ability, which he does, he ends up being a pretty good football player."
But, how does a player, who rushed for 246 yards in the state championship game choose to play defense in college? Turns out, he was in a similar defensive situation in high school.
"I started on defense as a freshman in high school," Peterson said. "I was always been more of a defensive guy growing up. At Wagoner, we had to basically put people where we needed them, and offense came naturally, but I'm definitely a defensive player at heart."
The experience of playing defense as a freshman in high school was at least a precedent for Peterson when he was thrown into the fire as a freshman Cowboy.
"I loved it," Peterson said. "I love to compete. I love to be put in pressure situations where I can show what I can do. It doesn't matter if I'm a freshman or a senior, I want to be thrown out there into pressure situations."
Malone said the way Peterson carries himself off the field translates to how he plays football and the kind of teammate he is.
"When I was at the University of Tulsa, I got the chance to recruit him," Malone said. "Of course I lost him to Oklahoma State, but I got to know his family in the process. What I know about his background and where he comes from, and to see him be the kind of person he is -- respectful, takes care of his business and always positive, that's encouraging for me as a coach. It's about more than him just being a football player he's a role model for the young players as they come on to the team. I'm excited about him continuing to be that leader for us."
Peterson is continuing to make his mark as a sophomore. He made his first career interception against Kansas last week and has broken up four passes this season. He has 15 tackles on the year and two of those came for loss.
And he still has plenty of games to play on the turf Boone Pickens Stadium -- and there's no place he'd rather be.
