A short drop, a perfect pass, and Julio Jones had dragged Patrick Peterson nearly to the goal line – the nail in the coffin for LSU’s upset bid against No. 1 Alabama.It’s a play, a game and a season that many LSU fans want to forget, and that’s just what Peterson plans to do.”Last year is behind me – this is a whole other year — 2009,” he said. “I need to come in every day and work hard in order to keep my eyes on the prize.”It’s an adage in football that defensive backs are supposed to have amnesia, though this sage advice rarely refers to an entire year.”To play back there, you need to be able to forget about what happens on a play-by-play basis,” said secondary coach Ron Cooper.Peterson arrived at LSU in 2008 as the nation’s top high school cornerback. He had what most would consider a good freshman season – 13 appearances, four starts, 41 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble.But the Pompano Beach, Fla., native was one of the LSU defense’s few bright spots. The Tigers’ secondary allowed 215 passing yards per contest last season, with Jones’ game-clinching catch just one of a series of heartbreaking moments.”We had a lot of growing to do last year,” Peterson said. “The whole secondary in general kind of grew up as a unit, and we’re ready to get after it.”Peterson matured in more than just football last season. He arrived in Baton Rouge last August and changed his name from Johnson, his mother’s maiden name, to Peterson, his father’s surname.”My name should’ve been Peterson a long time ago – my mom and dad got married when I was about 12,” he said. “In my mom’s family, if you aren’t married you get your mom’s last name. That’s just how it is.”Peterson’s father, Patrick Sr., said the change was something better left until after high school.”He would’ve had to miss class and go through a lot of paper work, and it would’ve slowed him down,” he said. “Me and his mom have been together for 23 years but only married for four or five years, and he always wanted my name. So when he got to Baton Rouge, it just felt like the time was right.”The secondary returns with a wealth of experience after being thrown into the fire, and the expectations are on the 19-year-old Peterson to fulfill his five-star rankings.”It’s not a surprise, because we’ve seen what he can do,” said senior cornerback Chris Hawkins. “We don’t look at him like a freshman or a sophomore – he’s a veteran.”Expectations are something Peterson is used to. He starred as a tailback, wide receiver, kick returner and cornerback for Ely High School, stockpiling a plethora of awards before announcing his decision to attend LSU instead of local powers like Florida and Miami at the 2008 Army All-American Bowl.”Some fans were upset — it’s going to be like that because people care so much about their teams,” Patrick Sr. said. “Patrick knew that, but LSU was just the perfect deal for him.”Peterson agrees. Even after a 3-5 Southeastern Conference campaign, the decision is not one he regrets.”I still believe I made the best decision of my life,” he said. “Things happen – they could have easily happened if I went to Miami or Florida. Our team’s just got to bounce back and respond to that bad season.”Cooper, who was hired to help repair the Tigers’ secondary, said Peterson has all the tools to do just that.”He’s got size for a corner, and at the same time he’s got speed and quickness,” he said. “I’m pretty sure Patrick understood the game at a young age, and he’s studied it and gotten better as time goes on.”That’s a fact not lost on Peterson’s father, himself a little league and high school football coach for the last 11 seasons. He said his son has been after advice throughout his career, always wanting “as much knowledge as he can get.””He wants to know how to get faster, or how the position is played,” Patrick Sr. said. “When the day comes that he goes to the next level, he’ll work on that to get to the top. He likes challenges like that.”If that’s the case, the challenge of another season looms large. Maybe this time it will be one to remember.”We’re ready to play. We’re ready to get out there on Sept. 5 and get on Washington,” Peterson said. “Our guys grew a lot more confidence, and we’re more hungry this year.”—-Contact David Helman at [email protected]