SAN DIEGO - Adrian Peterson made almost as many mistakes as he did big runs, yet he was still good enough to help Oklahoma win the Holiday Bowl.

After being held to 8 yards in the first half, Peterson ran for 76 in the second as the Sooners defeated No. 6 Oregon on Thursday night.

The 2004 Heisman Trophy runner-up had reeled off performances of 146, 135, 108 and 237 yards in four games after returning from a sprained right ankle, scoring two touchdowns in each game. Given another month to rest, he was expected to be near 100 percent for the Holiday Bowl.

But Peterson needed a rugged effort for every yard he gained. He even ended up gashing his forehead by colliding with while celebrating his first big run of about 50 yards down the left sideline when he hit his forehead on a teammates helmet. The run was negated by a holding penalty against Oklahoma’s top lineman, Davin Joseph.

Peterson said he was looking at the JumboTron when he spun around and collided with a teammate.

He was on the bench while trainers tended to him, and returned to the game with a bandage covering almost his entire forehead. He said he expects to get stitches on the one-inch gash when he gets back to Oklahoma.

“It made me a little dizzy,” Peterson said. “I was bleeding pretty bad.”

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He returned to rack up 36 yards on Oklahoma’s next drive, including an 11-yard run when he started left then circled back to the right, and a 20-yard gainer when he ran through one tackler and dragged two others for a few more yards.

“They’re real good tacklers,” Peterson said. “Like three or four times, I was almost gone and they stopped me.”

Kejuan Jones ended the drive with an 8-yard run to put Oklahoma up 17-7.

After running for only 28 yards in the first half, the Sooners had 83 in the third quarter alone.

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“We felt then that we would work Adrian and our running game more in the second half, and it worked,” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. “In the second half, we started establishing it.

“Whether they were fatigued or not, I’m not going to say that. It was our plan, and in the second half, we started to run it more.”

Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said Oklahoma’s halftime adjustments made a difference.

“Our entire front seven, front eight or front nine, depending on the formation, did a great job. What they did in the second half was run more laterally and created some gaps,” Bellotti said. When they ran at us, we did a great job.

“Some of the biggest plays came when we stunted inside at the point of attack, and then reversed and we didn’t quite stay alive as much as we talked about.”

“That was part of the gameplan,” Peterson said. “We wanted to spread them out and nick them here and there, and it worked.”

Peterson’s lowlight came when he fumbled at the 1-yard line trying to reach the ball across the goal line and give the Sooners a three-possession edge.

He was also unable to run out the final 3:30 for Oklahoma. He ran out of bounds on first down and his 4-yard gain on second down left the Sooners needing to pass on third-and-4.

Only Clint Ingram’s interception sealed the win for Oklahoma.

Peterson was held to only 8 yards on eight first-half carries, a figure dragged down by a 12-yard loss when quarterback Rhett Bomar dropped a shotgun snap and handed the ball to Peterson, who ran backward trying to elude Oregon defenders.

With Oregon tacklers swarming to him, Peterson was unable to break free for a big gain. His longest run of the first half was for 9 yards off a handoff out of the shotgun.

“We knew it was going to be like that coming in,” Peterson said. “They have big guys, 350 pounds up the middle.”