Accurate Cox aiming for Bobo 's school record

ATHENS, Ga. --- Joe Cox may have begun this season with only one collegiate start, but that didn't stop the Georgia quarterback from setting a lofty goal.

The fifth-year senior declared he was shooting for a 70 percent completion percentage.

Even if Cox never reaches that number, he just might make a run at Georgia's single-season completion percentage record of 65 percent set in 1997.

It's held by Mike Bobo, Cox's position coach and the Bulldogs' offensive coordinator.

Cox hasn't told Bobo he's coming after his record.

"I want to," said Cox, who has completed 63.3 percent of his passes after Saturday's 52-41 win at Arkansas. "A lot of guys talk about how many yards they want to go for and touchdowns. I don't care. All that comes if you're completing balls. As long as we have guys that are catching it like they were this past game and making plays, and I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, all that other stuff will come."

Like tying Georgia's single-game school record with five touchdown passes against the Razorbacks.

"I knew that I had five, but it never crossed my mind that it was the school record," said Cox, who was named as the SEC's offensive player of the week Monday, a day after being tabbed as Walter Camp national offensive player of the week. "It was pretty cool to hear about it after the game."

Cox joined Matthew Stafford, D.J. Shockley and David Greene as Georgia quarterbacks who have thrown five TDs in a game.

Some Georgia fans may have been surprised to see Cox join that group, but coach Mark Richt said he wasn't. He could see the potential back in 2006.

"If you go back to when we had Joe Tereshinski, Joe Cox, Matthew Stafford, everybody's battling it out," Richt recalled.

"As we were repping those things and we were keeping close track of who was doing what, Joe Cox has been really the most accurate practice passer that we've had for a while. He's just got a good touch and a good feel for the game and a good anticipation most of the time."

What Georgia coaches have seen on the practice field has translated onto the playing field. Cox has completed 71.4 percent of his passes in the last two games, including a 41-37 victory against South Carolina.

Those performances followed a rocky showing in the opener against Oklahoma State.

"After how bad I played Week 1, I knew that I could play, I knew I knew what to do," Cox said. "It was just a matter of doing it on Saturdays."

Georgia gives its quarterbacks the option to change a play at the line of scrimmage based on the defense's alignment, and Richt said that Cox has done a good job managing those decisions.

Reach Marc Weiszer at marc.weiszer@morris.com.