5 reasons UGA shouldn’t be worried about Joe Cox
Georgia's Joe Cox: A coat, a tie and an innate sense of leadership. (AP photo by Butch Dill)
1. He was considered the No. 1 QB from the day Matthew Stafford turned pro. When last Georgia went into a season without a holdover quarterback, Mark Richt threw the competition open to four candidates, Cox among them
2. He has the respect of his mates in a way few quarterbacks — D.J. Shockley would be an exception — ever do. Asked after spring practice to name the team leader, 107 of 110 Bulldogs famously voted for Cox. The other three voted for Ralph Nader.
3. He seems, as A.J. Green has said, to have “the complete confidence” of offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. Three years ago, Joe Tereshinski III was considered just “a game manager.” The playbook seems more open now.
4. He has two hugely gifted receivers in Green and freshman Marlon Brown, which means every throw won’t have to be on the button.
5. He should be working behind a better offensive line than Stafford ever had. And if you don’t think a O-line can aid and abet a new quarterback, please consult Matt Ryan of Flowery Branch.
(Not to get all wishy-washy on you — too late, I fear — but here are 5 reasons Georgia should be concerned about Joe Cox. And, coming a bit later, I offer 5 reasons Matthew Stafford left Athens without a title.)
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161 comments Add your comment
Music City Dawg
August 25th, 2009
1:55 pm
It isn’t just about having the big throw arm. It’s also about being able to read defenses and having great game management ability. Joe Cox has that. AS CMR said, Joe Cox was born for this type of season. It’s going to be a great season starting at OSU!
Sanford Drive
August 25th, 2009
1:56 pm
Why is a UF fan making fun of the way Joe Cox looks? First of all, it’s completely irrelevant. Secondly, have you SEEN Tebow? Great player. Ugly face.
reservoirDAWG
August 25th, 2009
1:57 pm
JB, take it easy on RambleOn! He’s only 12 years old.
Jim morrison
August 25th, 2009
1:58 pm
HA!HA! 11 Wins?
You gotta be kidding me. GA will be lucky to win 7 games this year with huge losses to FL and LSU!
Enough Said!
ChippersLoveChild
August 25th, 2009
2:03 pm
Not to completely derail this blog, but where are the AJC articles about swine flu spreading on college campuses? I have friends that have now contracted the disease in Athens and also in Valdosta. It just makes me a little uneasy. And how safe will games be to attend between the hedges this year? Aren’t we supposed to avoid large crowds?
MRB
August 25th, 2009
2:10 pm
Lee Harvey – You’re a mad man!
Kevin
August 25th, 2009
2:13 pm
When One team is not good and the other team is good then usually that good team is going to blow out the bad team…example…
1915 Florida 0 Georgia 37
1916 Florida 0 Georgia 21
1919 Florida 0 Georgia 16
1920 Florida 0 Georgia 56
1926 Florida 9 Georgia 32
1927 Florida 0 Georgia 28
1941 Florida 3 Georgia 19
1942 Florida 0 Georgia 75
1944 Florida 12 Georgia 38
1945 Florida 0 Georgia 34
1946 Florida 14 Georgia 33
1947 Florida 6 Georgia 34
1948 Florida 12 Georgia 20
1990 Florida 38 Georgia 7
1991 Florida 45 Georgia 13
1992 Florida 26 Georgia 24
1993 Florida 33 Georgia 26
1994 Florida 52 Georgia 14
1995 Florida 52 Georgia 17
1996 Florida 47 Georgia 7
1998 Florida 38 Georgia 7
1999 Florida 30 Georgia 14
But when two teams are good this begins to happen….
2002 Florida 20 Georgia 13
2003 Florida 16 Georgia 13
2004 Florida 24 Georgia 31
2005 Florida 14 Georgia 10
2006 Florida 21 Georgia 14
2007 Florida 30 Georgia 42
Now when one good team is beat up with injuries to hell and back and the other team is good then this happens….
2008 Florida 49 Georgia 10
This year if two good teams show up then once again you will see another close game but Florida on paper is not that much better than UGA talent wise…UGA gets great 4 and 5 star talent like any other top notch program. Georgia just is snake bit and always seems to have unfortunate circumstances happen. But this year I really believe everything is finally going to fall in place as long as were are healthy we will have a special year. There is no 8-4 year planted in my mind, its going to be 12-1 or 13-0.
Playing football since 1991
August 25th, 2009
2:16 pm
JB,
Our trophy case has more trophys. Even though we’ve only played 19 years we got 3 of dem dere natioal title trophys including 2 of dem crystal bcs trophys. They shore do shine nice. How many you got? One. From how long ago? 29 years and counting. Lemme see.
How many sec teams have won a national title since we went to the 2 division format in 1992.
Bama, Tennessee, Florida, LSU, Auburn had 2 unbeaten seasons but didn’t get to play for it. Hmmm! Where Georgia is? BWAAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWWAWAWAWAWA
Pi$$onaDawg
August 25th, 2009
2:16 pm
JB read Bill King’s blog about going to Athens and they are going to rebuild the Trophy & History room with all the other new building that is going on. So, I guess your Trophy case will be built by Illegal Hispanic day Labor and still no room for a new CRYSTAL FOOTBALL.
Playing football since 1991
August 25th, 2009
2:20 pm
Sanford Drive,
Tebow is a man. He would whup Joe Cox butt with one hand tied behind his back. You just mad cause you got a red headed goofball of a stephchild for a qb. You can’t change the fact that people look at that pic of Joe Cox and fall on the floor cause they laughing so hard.
reservoirDAWG
August 25th, 2009
2:22 pm
91, type much?
CaliDogg
August 25th, 2009
2:23 pm
“4. He has two hugely gifted receivers in Green and freshman Marlon Brown, which means every throw won’t have to be on the button.”
One comment I have read, consistently over time, about Joe Cox is that he is a MORE accurate passer than Stafford ever was (or maybe still is — i.e., overthrowing a wide open TD this past weekend — by a lot). So, don’t quite understand the point. His throws are, actually, on the button more often than not. That’s a plus in Cox’ column. Not a fault to be overcome by extra special receivers.
My prediction: Cox is going to make his receivers look pretty damn good, not the other way around.
KNelson
August 25th, 2009
2:26 pm
It wouldnt matter if UT hired Moses uga fans would make jokes about him as well. If it isnt Phat Phil or Lame kitten those jelous will always find a joke. At least UT never hired Forrest Gump as Georgia did. Then to follow that one up with another joke. Seems Georgia only makes fun of the teams that have dominated them to recent memory. If the pups win 6 games this season they will have played abouve their talent and coaching levels.
Bill E. Goat
August 25th, 2009
2:30 pm
Mark,
There’s one EXTREMELY important factor that seems to be missing from your 5 points about Joe Cox and why if I were a UGA fan I would be worried…..TALENT.
There wasn’t one thing mentioned about the kid having talent. I’m not saying he isn’t a talented QB but don’t you think that should be a pre-req or a factor?
I understand UGA fans have him pegged as a leader and game manager and that is a GREAT thing to have…However like Flynn in 07, Leak in 06, Mauck in 03, Greene in 02, Tee Martin in 98 and Jay Barker in 92 a game manager/leader NEEDS a GREAT D to back them up…and coming off of last years performance I would worry about that helping or hindering Joe Cox and UGA in 2009
ForTheRecord
August 25th, 2009
2:49 pm
Hmmm…you mentioned that UGA fans should look toward Flowery Branch and Matt Ryan to see how important an offensive line is to a rookie QB.
Does that mean you forecast UGA to lose five games?
…come to think on it, Mark, I do believe that was close to your prediction. Four losses your forecast but you forgot the loss at U.Tennessee didn’t you??? That would make the Flowery Branch quote fit.
uuugh...
August 25th, 2009
2:55 pm
Playing football since 1991…why don’t you go home and cast another vote for Florida’s true winner in Corrine Brown?
Who cares what a QB looks like!? I have seen Cox in interviews and he can string together a sentence better than that Tebow. You would think the second coming would be able to speak better given that we’ll need another sermon on the mount. Or was the Post-Ole Miss defeat the new one? I got it now…So on my deathbed I will whine “nobody will parctice harder…” through tears in my eyes, then BOOM I am whisked off to Heaven. Thank God for ESPN playing it 7 million times or i might have missed salvation!! Which obviously makes Kirk Herbstreit who is all over Tebow’s junk all the time St. Peter right? Holy Curches of St. Kirk will be sprouting up all over the country now. That will make Corch Meyer Judas as soon as he takes those 30 pieces of Silver from Notre Dame.
Pete nose
August 25th, 2009
3:12 pm
JB—the biggest difference is NC.And the other is most of fans of florida actully went to school there.
DawginLex
August 25th, 2009
3:19 pm
I can tell you one thing. I don’t believe I have ever been pulling harder for a young man to do well. I believe in hard work and that hard work results in good things.
I believe Joe Cox will be rewarded for his hard work and all the haters will be crawling back into their holes.
Big L
August 25th, 2009
3:52 pm
Joe c will be fine because he loves UGA. Stafford used Uga to get to the nfl. he been goin pro since he was 13. Heart is what this team been missing sincw DJ Shockley left.
5 reasons Georgia shouldn't be worried about Joe Cox | Mark Bradley | Georgia Today
August 25th, 2009
3:55 pm
[...] See the original post here: 5 reasons Georgia shouldn't be worried about Joe Cox | Mark Bradley [...]
JMac
August 25th, 2009
4:01 pm
I’m pretty sure one of those Nader votes was mailed in by Spurrier.
Voice Of Reason
August 25th, 2009
4:01 pm
Bark Bradley – you are such a Georgia HOMER!
Your credibility STINKS.
Just like last year, you are overly optomistic about a slightly-higher-than-mediocre Georgia team. As goes everything UGA, you are a HOMER. I guess you think that D.J. Shockley should be starting in place of Matt Ryan at the Dome because, after all, he played at Sacred Georgia. I’m over, you Homer.
reality check
August 25th, 2009
4:21 pm
Hendue, how do you know that of the 3 of them Hillary is the only one to strap it on?
GT4Ever
August 25th, 2009
4:21 pm
AceDawg
August 25th, 2009
1:39 pm
I can’t imagine any current UGA tailback has the talent of Moreno, but I can see a bigger Samuel being a problem if the line lives up to its hype. Nobody likes tackling big, strong dudes when they have a full head of steam moving forward. And if he bruises the defense, Thomas (maybe King too) can jet through the defensive holes.
You just descibe what Dwyer will do to all the defenses this year. Throw in Jones, Peeples, Wright and Allen and that’s what you call unstoppable, BABY!!!! Don’t you win games on running the ball and stopping the run? GT will run all over everbody this year, even the beloveded leg humpers…at least we have a QB that’s been in more than two games (?) his entire college career. That inexperience alone will cost UGA at least two to three games. Can’t wait to see what he does against UF’s defense…get slaughtered, that’s what!!!!!!
Big L
August 25th, 2009
4:31 pm
alright gt4ever, calm down , that high school offense will not pay off much longer . enjoy your ‘we beat georgia ring”. since when does a good football have another favorite football team in florida. referencing florida to further your hate of UGA.
T.O
August 25th, 2009
4:31 pm
2009 UGA 10-2, Tech 7-5. Nothing new here…. Same story. UGA has won 82 games in the past 8 years. Tech…..not so much. Love the Tech Haters on the site who are wannabee UGA fans. Sorry losers, Peach bowl and 7-5 is all you get. The JV program in the state that got lucky 1 year and think they are NC contenders. LSU showed Tech how good they were last year. That was truly embarassing to watch!!! Felt sorry for you techies. Stay on your own blog. Oh that’s right no one cares about your program.
Big L
August 25th, 2009
4:36 pm
why does tech tell people bout how smart they are only after losing to UGA. No wonder they are all geniuses.
Voice of Reason
August 25th, 2009
4:41 pm
previous post, not me. Name taken, but I can understand that… its a great name btw.
KNelson- When did UGA hire Forrest Gump? I didn’t know that was a real person but if so, I hope he there to teach the UGA players how to dance. I think he was a pretty good kick returner as well. Maybe he could help out there as well. Moron.
Big L
August 25th, 2009
4:45 pm
go gator……..tee hee
Voice of Reason
August 25th, 2009
4:48 pm
oh yeah, and since when has UT dominated UGA lately? isn’t richt 5-3 against UT?? Yeah, I wouldn’t call that being dominated by UT.
Big L
August 25th, 2009
4:49 pm
OK K-NELSON. UT has already been outcoached. the redt of the league does’nt need to lie or talk crap . Liffin is in for a rude awakening. last i checked UT hase;nt dominated anyone lately.
DawgFanNRS
August 25th, 2009
4:51 pm
We’ll luckily this year we won’t have to sit through a couple of lower tier opponents to see what we got. I look forward to the challenge in Stillwater (Norman’s little brother) -so looking forward to going to the game!. Cox is going to be great. We should only have to ask him for 250 yards a game (he’ll average 295). As long as we can hold onto the ball, our running backs are going to be outstanding (lets say 2400 yards). GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!
DawgFanNRS
August 25th, 2009
4:53 pm
last one supposed to start with- well luckily
biased dawg fan (f/k/a Voice of Reason)
August 25th, 2009
4:56 pm
wow. I actually read the post by the other “Voice of Reason”. What a tool! Mark Bradley is far from a UGA homer. I would usually say he is very anti-UGA actually. Obvious this other guy does not read the blogs often. It is for that reason that I think I must change my name… It’s long needed anyway since, as you all would probably agree with, I am not always a Voice of Reason but often a Voice of only my own opinion. That is why my new name will be “biased dawg fan”
Atticus
August 25th, 2009
5:10 pm
I love how people always bring up the Stafford BS. Does anyone realize how good he was last year and that as a junior. Give him a David Greene/Van Gorder era defense and all the BS falls away. Every QB makes mistakes. He was no exception, especially since the OL wasn’t great and the defense sucked, he probably felt pressure to make more and more plays. But his play was exceptional.
kerryb
August 25th, 2009
5:18 pm
At 12:31 Tony posted that he believed that with Aaron Murray under center and Carlton Thomas in the backfield we would win the SEC and NC. He must have been drinking early this morning. Are you kidding me? A true Freshman that has done nothing and still learning the offense and a very undersized RB. He’s got to be kidding! I’ll take the 5th year senior who has at least started a game and a large brusing RB anyday.
kerryb
August 25th, 2009
5:22 pm
At 1:08 “It’s a Gator Life” posted that our QB looks goofy. Well, at least he doesnt cry like a big crybaby!
JEM
August 25th, 2009
5:39 pm
The second biggest surprise of the SEC: Georgia finishes 10-2
The first biggest surprise of the SEC: Florida finishes 10-2
GO DAWGS!
Jackson
August 25th, 2009
5:56 pm
What I like about the tram is the conversation of a running back that hits the whole hard and does not go down. We are a run first, run hard offense. I loved knowshown but he is never what I would coin a power back. I would be happy with three tough yards cosistently that wears out the d line and linebackers. Throw in some screens to tire them out more and by the second half, play action really opens up and then the running game follows suit. If we can’t knock defenses off the line we ate toast. Just give me maulers who eat the innerds of others and we can walk through anyone. Controlling the game tempo and driving allows the d to gamble thus leading to turnovers and sacks. Our lines have to own first down and the rest is gravy.
Dawg Days
August 25th, 2009
6:07 pm
This talk about Joe being not ready is a joke. He is more able to lead UGA this year than Obama is to lead this country. But oh I degress to mix politics with sports, same on me to dirty the game of southern football. Joe knows the playbook better than Stafford ever did, is cool as a cucumber, and will have more poise in the pocket than Staff, and puts the ball on receivers in stride. He throws an accuaret ball thast easy to catch, and what you will see is more yards after the catch this year from UGA receivers because of it. There will also be less “dropped balls” from the reievers this years because he puts it on the money, unlike Staff… It’s not to diss Staff, but its not fair to say Joe isnt ready casue he doesnt have a cannon, he can throw it long enough.
Its the intangibles that Joe brings to the game that the average fan just can’t see, but I see them clearly, and am excited to see Joe prove all the doubters dead wrongs. Even his bass fishing skills translate well to the field, cool, calm, and collected, he’s going to catch the big ones, and skin Okies,LSU,Fla, and the Techies….
DOUG
August 25th, 2009
6:08 pm
The main reason people are nervous about the potential of Cox is because the media (including the AJC) is so lacking in its ability
to evaluate at any level the potential of a player that does not play much. Some beat writers actually know something about the game and know it when they see it. Joe Cox is a tremendous talent. His arm strength is not that of Stafford but is strong enough. Cox was a hot blooded, emotion driven QB in his early years but has learned to control his mood considerably. Will he be a Graham Harrell and throw for 300 per game? That is actually a possibility. His accuracy is excellent and he has great decision making skills. He also has a natural feel for the game. He was built for the college game. Stafford was built for the NFL.
Carl Spackler
August 25th, 2009
7:05 pm
I still think this is a throw-away/rebuilding year…many on here think you’ll be a better team w/out Stafford, and yet Cox couldn’t win the position, or even get into a game(s)…guys the coaches saw something and went w/ Stafford, Cox will be holding a clip board by the 4th game…
BIGBOY
August 25th, 2009
7:18 pm
It makes u wonder a bit when most of the talk about Cox centers around 1 game (Colorado) and HS highlights.
SthrnSrvy
August 25th, 2009
7:24 pm
Not a single concern from that spot. Joe Cox can play people.
DawgLover
August 25th, 2009
8:33 pm
Cox isn’t that good, but he probably will not be the starter after a few games. His arm it too weak to make all the throws. Hopefully, richt gets someone who can beat florida one day—I’m sick of losing there every year. If he can’t beat florida when tebow leaves, then damon evans needs to look for a new coach who can win big games!
Big L
August 25th, 2009
9:16 pm
chill out dawglover. we aint had a coach beat florida more than once since Vince Dooly.
Mark Bradley
August 25th, 2009
9:21 pm
Actually, Richt has beaten Florida twice.
Midland Dog
August 25th, 2009
9:24 pm
To all the jerks posting comments about someone’s looks and their skills- you are pathetic, small minded and jealous. You probably get off on insulting kids because you have never done anything in your life. The kids on the bench are the best from their whole towns. And by the way it is Opie, go back to school.
Big L
August 25th, 2009
10:04 pm
I know Mr Bradley, that’s why i told dag lover to chill out. Richt had to fight a losing to florida culture when he got here. all but one loss was close. we will be fine and tech will still be tech. Besides , tech is just a spring board to a better job for Paul Johnson. U know, a school where he can install a real offense. Not one to let th QB run cause they can’t do anything else.
John
August 26th, 2009
10:10 am
It’s a gator world…
You find yourself amusing. There’s a shocker.