From the Arena to the ER

I am beside myself with how poorly the faces of the Georgia Bulldogs are handling our four and four condition. First, Mark Richt attempts to disenfranchise those of the Bulldawg faithful that haven't tasted SEC sod. Second, Richt cites statistics on the direction of ball bounces and it's delta to Georgia players. Now our starting quarterback, he of five years on campus, compares our criticism of him to his crticism of a doctor.

Perhaps he should forgo his nearing coaching career and give public relations a shot!

BULLDOGS BLOG: Practice Notes: Cox Copes With Criticism

“Anybody can get on that and talk about sports,” Cox said. “That’s like me going on WebMD and talking like I’m a doctor and telling these guys what they should be doing in hospitals. That’s the least of my worries.”

The Joe Cox Conundrum

All he ever wanted was to be UGA's QB

Today, Joe Cox is the best quarterback on the Georgia Bulldogs roster. I don't think there is any debate there. He has the most time in the program, the most experience and he has some ability. I like Joe Cox. The problem is, I love the Georgia Bulldogs.

Last night, I needed to clear up some space on TIVO and it occurred to me I had yet to watch the LSU game.  I didn't really watch the whole game, but I did watch the complete fourth quarter. Gary Danielson was narrating a Joe Cox and AJ Green fairy tale ending. The story of AJ Green never wavering in his recruitment was good. The story of Joe Cox only wanting to be the quarterback at Georgia was great.

This was going on as the Dawgs were rolling down the field for the go ahead score. Then came the pass to Green in the end zone. Wow! They had this thing set up and it was great television sports drama. If only it had ended there.

Because it didn't end there, and because of the flop on Rocky Top, the questions has to be asked; just what are our priorities?

Cox took all but one of the snaps in a less than stellar performance against Okie State. Immediately following the Game, coach Mark Richt began eluding to the flu and how it may have effected his quarterback's performance. This past Saturday, Cox started fairly well, took a pretty nasty hit that resulted in a 300 pound defensive lineman landing on him. His performance was not so great after that. Again, coach Richt brought up the hit and the effect it may have had on Joe right after the game.

Let me restate, I am a Joe Cox fan. I like him, but this is not the University of Joe Cox, nor is it the Georgia Coxes. If something is wrong with Joe, the coaches need to use that as reason to get him out of there, not as an excuse after the game is over.

There is still much to play for in 2009. we are still, technically, in the running for the Eastern Division title. Perhaps more importantly, there are three huge rivalry games that would go along way toward taking the sting out of the season. Inversely, they could go pretty far in the other direction, too.

I guess I am trying to say we are at a fork in the road. On the one hand we still have conference championships hopes, however dim, and mega-rivalries that can make it all better. On the other hand, we have a season to play next year with no real quarterback experience on the roster. At too next season the so called "hot seat" affect to go along with a tender foot at the most important position on the field and you have a recipe for disaster.

Further complicating things, we still need to win three of our final six in order to get bowl eligible. At this point, I don't really care about the bowl, it is getting that additional bowl practice that matters most to me.

Joe Cox has been a fine Bulldog. All the kid ever wanted to do was be the quarterback at the University of Georgia. Mission accomplished. As devout as he has been to his school, I am sure he will understand the need to get some seasoning for his replacement. Joe may even end up on the coaching staff as a graduate assistant, thus benefiting from the experience Logan Gray or Aaron Murray gets.

Prior to his mop up work in the fourth quarter Saturday, Logan Gray had fielded more fair-catch punts than he had taken snaps at quarterback. His progress has been severely stunted by his time spent on special teams. This does not bode well for our future.

Logan "fair catch!" Gray

Obviously, Gray may not be the starting quarterback next fall. Even if Murray is the next coming of Matthew Stafford we shouldn't forget about the growing pains we endured as Stafford adjusted to the game.

In the end, I do not want a problem at quarterback this year become a problem at quarterback next year. Unfortunately, I don't have the solution, but then again, I'm not in the million dollar SEC coaches club.

It is time to commit ourselves to playing Gray the first series of the second quarter, regardless of the situation. It is not exactly like Cox has not led us to several three and outs, healthy or otherwise.

Joe Schad: Nerve Problems with Cox

I really do not know what to make of this. Coach says he can throw it 55 yards and that's plenty far enough. How much of a wind up will it take? How quick will the release be?

If AJ deep is not in the playbook things are going to be difficult. If deep outs are not in the playbook, things are going to be difficult. Adversity, due to injury, is becoming the norm.

@schadjoe: #Georgia #Bulldogs QB Joe Cox is a warrior. Cox says he's playing thru nerve problems caused by eroded muscle protecting rotator cuff

Will the under break Vegas?

AssClown: Only Chip Kelly had a Worse Opener than JoeT4

Hayes' hot seat: Five under pressure in Week 1 - Matt Hayes - College Football - Sporting News

2. Georgia quarterback Joe Cox

I'm willing to give Joey C. (no relation to Joey T.) another game after last week's H1N1 (or whatever they're calling it these days)-induced performance against Oklahoma State.

Frankly, I'm pretty sure UGA coach Mark Richt, who has won a few games in Athens, knows what he's doing. Maybe a fully-rested, completely healthy Cox plays big against South Carolina's athletic defense.

But if Cox struggles again this week at home, it's time to break out freshman Aaron Murray. Richt did the same thing in 2006 when career backup/good guy (ring a bell?) Joe Tereshinski struggled early in his I've-waited-four-years-to-finally-start season, and the Bulldogs went to Matthew Stafford.

I'm not saying Murray—a heralded recruit—is at the same level as Stafford (he's clearly not), but he has the physical tools to stretch the offense beyond short to intermediate throws. If you can't throw it deep, you take away your best threat on offense (WR A.J. Green

King to Start, Tavarres King

Mark Wieszer reports that "Tavarres King is slated to start ahead of Michael Moore at split end in a two-receiver set." My guess is this half due to dropped passes an half due to downfield blocking.

Multiple reports have Caleb King unlikely to play at this point with the final decision to be made at gametime. I do not expect him to play.

The Joe Cox thing is sure to be the center of conversation at Mark Richt's 4 pm presser with the beat reports. Should be interesting. Hope somebody has video rolling, would love to get a view of Coach's body language. Dealing with the press has got to be the worst part of his job right now.

The Cox Story: A Fleetwood Mac Album

My head is a spin. The rumors were traveling at 10Mb speed about Joe Cox having some sort of nerve problem in his shoulder.  At once, it made perfect sense, and yet it made no sense at all.

I immediately felt guilty upon hearing the rumor, as in careful what you wish for type of guilt. While I was not thrilled with his performance, and am still down right angry at his response to criticism, I am still a very loyal fan of the "Ginger Ninja" and really want him to have great success this year.

Turned out to be false in as much as he is still the starter for Saturday night's chicken fry.

On the bright side, it does appear to be true that Logan Gray did get more practice reps with the first team. +1

On the rather dim side, it appeared to me Cox needed all the reps he could get. -2

So we go into our conference opener with are starting QB missing more practice time and it is still 180 minutes until happy hour.

It's Great to be a Georgia Bulldawg!

Say it isn't so, Joe

This comes from Mr. SEC. And it comes with this disclaimer:

We told you yesterday that Georgia’s Joe Cox isn’t going to listen to anyone who’s “never played football,” but I think even other quarterbacks would look at his #13 ranking and tell him that he needs to improve his performance. Maybe being fully healthy this week, he will. Until he does so, he might want to stay quiet about his critics.

Rank	Quarterback	Yards	Pass Att	TD	Int	Yds/Att
1	R. Mallett (Ark)	309	22	1	0	14.04
2	T. Tebow (Fla)	188	15	1	0	12.53
3	C. Todd (Aub)	255	26	2	0	9.80
4	J. Jefferson (LSU)	172	19	3	0	9.05
5	L. Smith (VU)	153	18	1	0	8.50
6	J. Crompton (Tenn)	233	28	5	2	8.32
7	M. Hartline (Ky)	222	27	2	0	8.22
8	J. Snead (Miss	175	22	2	2	7.95
9	G. McElroy (Ala)	230	30	1	1	7.66
10	C. Relf (MSU)	75	10	3	0	7.50
11	T. Lee (MSU)	97	14	0	0	6.92
12	S. Garcia (SC)	148	22	0	1	6.72
13	J. Cox (Ga)	162	30	1	1	5.40