Peterson was an all-state selection as junior and senior at Bingham High School in South Jordan, Utah. He holds the school"s single-season record for passing yardage (2,011) and career record for passing yards (3,900). He totaled 38 touchdown passes including 20 in his senior season.
He also played baseball and basketball.
After high school, Peterson served a two-year Mormon mission in Nicaragua (August 1999–July 2001).
He was the first quarterback to start his career 6–0, and compiled a 12–2 record for his career at, including two bowl victories in the Continental Tire Bowl and the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl. He was named the Big East Offensive Player of the Week twice, the Most Valuable Player of the Continental Tire Bowl, and British Columbia"s team Most Valuable Player in 2004. Peterson played the 2001 and 2002 seasons at Snow College, a junior college in Ephraim, Utah.
In 2001, he threw for 2,518 yards and 20 touchdowns.
In 2002, he earned JC Grid-Wire All-America honors and All-Western States Football League first team honors after leading the Badgers to an 8–2 record, throwing for 2,982 yards and 35 touchdowns in 10 games. He led the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) in both passing yards and touchdowns.
2003 season He finished the season completing 84 of 147 passes for 1,124 yards, 10 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. 2004 season He started 10 games until missing the season finale due to a fractured second metacarpal in his right (throwing) hand late in the second quarter against Temple.
However, he still earned game Most Valuable Player honors.
He finished the season with 2,594 passing yards, 18 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. Peterson concluded his career with 3,718 yards (eighth all time), 28 touchdowns (sixth all time), and a 60.8 completion percentage (sixth all time). Peterson signed with the Ottawa Renegades of the Canadian Football League (Canadian Football League) before the 2005 season.
He was released after the preseason.
He was a graduate assistant at Brigham Young University in 2006 and at North Carolina State University in 2007. In 2008, Peterson joined Southern Utah University coaching staff as the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach.
After starting the year as a backup, Peterson came on strong at the end of the season to win the starting quarterback job from Quinton Porter, leading the Eagles to wins in each of their last three games. He completed 16-of-25 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns to lead the team to a 35–21 win over Colorado State in the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl. Peterson won Big East Offensive Player of the Week twice, Big East Company-Offensive Player of the Week once, and Big East Offensive Player once. Peterson came back to complete 24 of 33 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns in British Columbia"s 37–24 win over North Carolina in the Continental Tire Bowl before exiting the game in the second half with a broken legal
