Georgia Bulldog Nation: Get Off Joe Cox!

(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

There are a lot of Bulldog fans out there who are far from satisfied with the way their Dawgs have been performing so far this season. I’m one of them.

In the fan world, there are two kinds of fans. There are those fans who watch the trees - the X's and O's, individual player performances in each and every play and trends and stats of various parts of the team.

They also look at how the Dawgs match up against opposing players, defenses, offenses, positions and coaches. It takes time, study and dedication to do this, but it usually results in good analysis and reasoning.

Then there are those fans who can see nothing except the forest (the forest fans) - those who see nothing more than wins and losses, scores and on which end of the field UGA spends its time.

These are the fans who come to kneejerk opinions with very little intellectual analysis. They normally jump on what they perceive as the popular bandwagon of the day - because it (and their equally uninformed friends) must be right. They are usually the ones that go the easy route of finding an easy scapegoat.

Joe Cox is the forest fans’ scapegoat. He has been before he ever took his first 2009 season snap.

And I’m fed up with it! So let's set the record straight.

There is no question that this team has a lot of improving to do - from our very knowledgeable head coach (no sarcasm at all intended) down to the water boys (not the water girl). But this article will not address the areas that need improving. It WILL address the area of the team that, contrary to the popular opinion of the uninformed, needs the least improvement.

A little historical background

Joe Cox came to UGA from North Carolina in 2005. He was highly recruited by UGA and ranked as the No. 7 highschool football QB in the country. He had an undefeated 31-0 record as a starter in highschool; in his Sr year he held the North Carolina state record of 66 TD passes in one year as he lead his team to its fifth consecutive state title.

He arrived during DJ Shockley’s Sr year and was redshirted. Fortunately for UGA - but unfortunately for Joe Cox - Matthew Stafford, ranked as the No. 1 highschool QB in the country was recruited. He came to UGA the year after Cox.

Since then and through to the present, Cox has had to endure constant comparisons to the very flashy and strong armed Stafford - and constant criticism.

In the first half of 2006, when QB Joe Tereshinski III was struggling with both performance and injuries in his first year as starter, Coach Richt gave both Stafford and Cox a lot of playing time. Both had moments of brilliance as well as moments of struggle.

In the game against Colorado, starter Matt Stafford was not able to get the offense going. Late in the third quarter UGA was down 13-0. Coach Richt put Joe Cox in. In that fourth quarter, Joe Cox was able to put together two successful drives leading the Dawgs to a thrilling 14-13 comeback win.

Coach Richt decided that Joe Tereshinski was just not going to make it as the starting QB. He was benched. He then had to make a decision on whether to designate Stafford or Cox as the starter.

Likely because of his superior arm strength, Stafford secured the position and Cox was given leftovers and a hope that he might still become the starter one day.

Everyone in the country knew of and watched Stafford’s flashy style. They watched his occassional long pass completions. They watched him at QB, leading the Dawgs to 8-4, 10-2 and 9-3 regular seasons. He didn’t win a Heisman, an SEC or a National title; but he was a very good QB.

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