Questions continue, but no doubt in Athens: Cox is top Dawg

ATHENS, Ga. -- After two weeks of anxiety in Bulldog Nation that have been filled with rumors and rumors about rumors, Georgia is looking forward to a "normal" game week. Or at least as normal as it gets in the SEC.

Winning does that.

"To tell the truth, what was going on last week was really outside our walls," Georgia coach Mark Richt said just hours after his team held on to win a wild 41-37 shootout over South Carolina Saturday night. "So to us, last week was pretty normal."

The second week of the season was much nicer to Joe Cox (14) and the Bulldogs. (Getty Images)

That might have been true for Richt and his troops. But outside of the confines of Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall, where Georgia does its work, life has been anything but normal the past two weeks.

On Sept. 5 Georgia, ranked No. 13 in the preseason, went to Oklahoma State for a game that was billed as nothing less than the biggest home opener in Cowboys history. Senior quarterback Joe Cox, who had waited three years for his turn behind 2009 NFL Draft top pick Matthew Stafford, was going to get the start. But Cox came down with the flu, a development that Georgia was able to keep secret for the entire week.

Come the Friday before the game, Georgia officials decided that putting Cox on a plane with the rest of the team was not worth the risk. When Cox didn't get on that team plane, the chat rooms and message boards went absolutely nuts. Friday night, Cox eventually made the trip to Stillwater on a university plane with a couple of staff members and made it clear he was going to start the game.

The Georgia offense looked great on the first drive, where the Bulldogs blew Oklahoma State off the ball with the running game and took a 7-0 lead. After that the offense was totally ineffective. Three turnovers and a bunch of incomplete and dropped passes later, Oklahoma State had a 24-10 win.

Georgia fans were livid. Many were convinced Cox had absolutely no arm strength and that it was time to go with the backup, Logan Gray. They were convinced offensive coordinator Mike Bobo had to go. One person wrote me to say that Georgia was doomed to "years of mediocrity" under Richt, who has won ONLY 82 games in eight seasons (with two SEC championships) as the head Bulldog since 2001.

Oh wait. It only gets better.

Early in South Carolina week Cox, a redhead with a strong personality, suggested that some of his critics might not know exactly what they are talking about.

"I'm sure there was [negative] stuff said," Cox said during Georgia's regular press briefing last Tuesday. "Half the people who are saying things have never played a down of football in their lives. I'd never criticize somebody like that, but they might think it's their place to say how someone is doing even though they've never done it. I consider the source, who's talking. If it's someone who hasn't played football, I [couldn't] care less."

Needless to say, such language did not sit well with portions of the Georgia fan base. Fans don't like to be told they don't know what they are talking about -- even the ones who really DON'T know what they are talking about.

Then on Thursday of last week came the perfect storm. Cox has a tender right (throwing) shoulder that flares up if he throws too much. So Richt gives Cox Wednesdays off from throwing and lets Gray work with the first unit. Well, word leaked because some family member talked to some website and the next thing you know Joe Cox has a dead arm and Logan Gray is going to start that Saturday night game against South Carolina. The story, other than the fact that Gray worked with the first unit Wednesday, wasn't true but it took on a life of its own. It was well after lunch before Georgia officials could get that story shut down: Cox was going to start Saturday against the Gamecocks.

We can now say that Cox's arm appears to be just fine. He played every offensive play but one and threw only one really bad ball. He didn't see Eric Norwood, South Carolina's splendid linebacker, who picked off a bullet and raced 35 yards for a touchdown. Cox finished the game completing 17 of 24 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns. His nine-yard touchdown to A.J. Green right before halftime was a thing of beauty.

"What people have to understand is that Joe is a pretty mature kid," Richt said. "He's seen just about everything by being in our meeting and playing behind Matthew [Stafford]. His goal is to be a coach and so he's very much in tune with things that are going on. He's very, very focused."

Understand that Cox was a highly-recruited quarterback out of Independence High School in Charlotte, N.C. He could have transferred when Stafford arrived at Georgia and it was clear that he would have to wait. He didn't. He stayed at Georgia because, "I believe in finishing things that I start."

Every year at the end of spring practice, Richt interviews every player on the Georgia team. He asks all of them the same question: Who are the leaders on our team for this fall?

Every single player on the Georgia team -- both offense and defense -- said Joe Cox was a leader on this football team. That was good enough for Richt.

The Georgia fan base and the media might still have their questions and those questions will likely continue if the Bulldogs stub their toe Saturday at Arkansas. But the Georgia players have decided: Joe Cox is their guy.

"I'm just happy for him," Richt said. "A lot of guys work hard for success and he's one of them. He's done a great job of not only getting himself ready but getting his teammates ready. You want to see people like that succeed."

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