Cox Isn't Georgia's Problem

As someone who has watched Andy Reid appear to purposefully lose at least a dozen big games in my time as an Eagles fan, I empathize with the Georgia faithful who are quite upset today. They're frustrated, and they simply want answers. I get it.

But here's the one guy being held accountable by so many fans who has no business being in your line of fire today: Joe Cox.

I'm not going to try to convince you that Cox had the best game of his career on Saturday. Clearly he didn't. He finished 18-of-34 for 229 yards and two touchdowns with a late INT to boot, but as I'm sure you all will point out, those aren't the problematic numbers. No, it was his first half that was the problem. Through two quarters, Cox had completed just 3-of-9 passes for 31 yards -- and 27 of them came on one throw.

But look at what Cox is working with. First, LSU's secondary is one of the best units in the country. There's a reason why dozens of stories were written about Chad Jones and Patrick Peterson matchup against A.J. Green this week. Second, Mike Bobo's play calling was curious at best throughout the first half. Third, the running game offered Cox absolutely nothing in the way of support. Fourth, as good as some of his young receivers have been, Cox is playing with Green, Moore and a cast of guys who still have to ask him what to do before nearly every play. And Moore has been milk-carton material for the past two games.

Let's look at two sets of numbers, OK.

Player A: 61.4% completion percentage, 153.54 QB rating, 2.5:1 TD-to-INT ratio
Player B: 58.6% completion percentage, 145.42 QB rating, 1.83:1 TD-to-INT ratio

Player A is obviously better, but the margin is pretty small. The variance is nothing that couldn't swing in the other direction with one particularly good game by Player B or one bad one by Player A.

I'm sure by now you've figured out that Player A is Matthew Stafford a year ago, and Player B is Cox through five games this season. So, yes, we can officially say Cox was a step back from Stafford -- but by how much? My guess is it's a lot less than most fans worried it might be back in January when Stafford announced he was leaving.

And keep in mind, Stafford posted those numbers in his third year as a starter with Knowshon Moreno in his backfield and two star wide receivers to throw to. In his first two seasons, Stafford didn't come anywhere close to Cox's numbers.

Ah, but that first half, you say. One first down? No points? That's inexcusable, right?

Let's look back to last season when the future No. 1 pick in the NFL draft was Georgia's quarterback.

vs. South Carolina: Six points in the first half
vs. Alabama: Zero points in the first half
vs. Florida: Three points in the first half
vs. Auburn: Seven points in the first half
vs. Michigan State: Three points in the first half

Georgia was losing all but one of those games at the half, too.

Again, that was with Moreno, Mohamed Massaquoi and A.J. Green on offense and the No. 1 QB in the draft throwing the passes.

OK, but you don't think Cox can stretch the field, right? Actually, he's among the best quarterbacks in the country at completing the deep ball. He hit five more passes for 20 yards or longer against LSU.

Oh, but he threw behind a couple of receivers and overthrew Green on a deep ball, right? Do you remember what it was like playing with Stafford last year? The kid had a cannon arm, but he didn't always know where it was going.

And here's another stat I came across (and damned if I can remember where I stole it from): Arizona State is ranked No. 8 in the country in QB rating allowed. LSU is No. 10. South Carolina is No. 12 in the nation in pass defense.

Cox hasn't played cake opponents (Arkansas notwithstanding).

But here are the two biggest reasons Georgia cannot make a change at QB.

No. 1: Logan Gray simply isn't ready to take over the job, and the games have been too close to trust him with even a series or two per half. Look, I said I thought Gray or Murray needed to see action this season a few weeks ago, so I'm on board with making sure the Dawgs have someone with experience in 2010. But at this point, if Georgia wins out, they'll still be the SEC East champions, and until that's not the case, Mark Richt & Co. are not going to risk giving away a game with their second- or third-best QB running the show. Not going to happen.

No. 2: While you'll point to the handful of bad throws that Cox made, his real value is in all the things you'll never see. Do you realize how many kids are in the offensive huddle this season? It's Joe, Moore and a bunch of freshmen and sophomores.

And yet, Georgia has been behind for four straight weeks and Cox has rallied his troops and regained the lead every time. That's character. That's leadership. That's accountability. On a team like this, those are as important as any amount of arm strength.

In fact, here's what Joe said about finding out in the middle of the third quarter that true freshman Washaun Ealey was taking over at tailback: "I was about to go in the game and they said '24' is in. I had no clue they were thinking about doing that. I was excited for him. It was during a TV timeout, and we were sitting there in the huddle and everyone was telling him what to do -- 'Oh, make sure you hold on to the ball,' blah, blah, blah. I was just like, man, let him run. He knows how to run."

The senior leader on offense was told just a few seconds before taking the field midway through the third quarter that he would have yet another true freshman to look out for, and the first thing he does is take all the pressure off Ealey and tell him to just go play his game. I talked to Ealey on Sunday, too, and he said that Cox's leadership was absolutely crucial for him.

All due respect to Gray and Murray, but they aren't handling that situation the way Cox did.

And one last point: If the refs hadn't been insane, the kickoff team knew how to cover, and the defense had made a stop, what would you be saying about Joe Cox today? Because none of those things that happened after Georgia's go-ahead touchdown were his fault, so your synopsis of his performance shouldn't be swayed by the things that happened when he wasn't even on the field.

Folks, Cox is not the problem.