Player Milestone Watch--Offense and Kickers

Statistically, Cox's 2009 season has been pretty good, his career among the best at Georgia.

A couple days ago, I indicated team statistical milestones Georgia is approaching or could uphold in 2009 with just the bowl game remaining.  Here are the career milestones (and some seasonal) for individual offensive players and kickers.  I'll post defensive players and return men over the weekend.

JOE COX: Statistics certainly do not tell the entire story, and in Cox's case, they do not necessarily reveal his frequency to be inconsistent and rattle under pressure.  However, statistically, Cox has had a commendable 2009 season and career.

Currently, Cox's career passing rating of 139.11 is the SECOND HIGHEST in Georgia football history of those passers who completed at least/only 10 passes in their careers.  He is behind only D.J. Shockley's 142.85 and ahead of greats like Charley Trippi (138.38), David Greene (138.26), Eric Zeier (137.09), and Matthew Stafford (133.30).

Barring a below-average performance in the bowl game, Cox should uphold his place at second but surpassing Shockley for the top spot would be difficult.  Cox's current 138.08 rating for this season is the 10th best in school history.

Cox's 2,858 career passing yards are the 14th most at Georgia, 527 ahead of 15th-ranked Frank Sinkwich.  He needs 244 to pass Greg Talley at 13th.

A.J. GREEN: In just 22 games played in his collegiate career, Green's 103 catches rank 12th at Georgia, 1,714 receiving yards are 11th, and 14 touchdown catches rank seventh.

Green needs 12 catches to surpass Charlie Whittemore (Georgia's all-time leading receiver until 1981) for the 11th spot, 121 receiving yards to best Hason Graham and move into the top 10, and three touchdown catches would put him fourth all time at Georgia, passing Graham, Juan Daniels, and Mohamed Massaquoi, who all have 16 career touchdown receptions.

MICHAEL MOORE: Moore's 57 career catches for 730 yards and eight touchdowns currently rank tied for 33rd with Bobby Walston, 42nd, and tied for 20th with Gene Washington, respectively.

BLAIR WALSH: In just two seasons, Walsh has scored 189 points, ranking 15th in Georgia's career records and 10th among kickers. He needs only four points to pass No. 14 Knowshon Moreno's 192.

By the end of his career, Walsh could rival Billy Bennett for the No. 1 spot; Bennett scored 409 points from 2000-2003--an SEC record and fourth highest in FBS history.

DREW BUTLER: Butler's current punting average of 48.84 not only leads the nation by more than three yards per punt ahead of the second-best average of 2009, but it would be an NCAA FBS single-season record for punters with at least 50 attempts (West Virginia's Todd Sauerbrun averaged 48.4 in 1994).

Butler's career average of 48.09 easily stands alone atop Georgia's records of the 24 Bulldogs who've punted at least 50 times in their careers; Chip Andrews' 43.2 career average is second.

**Yesterday, Butler was named first team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).  He is the first player in Georgia football history to be named first team All-American at the punter position.  In addition, by my count, he is only the third sophomore to earn first team All-American recognition, joining Herschel Walker (1981) and David Pollack (2002).

Individual offensive statistics are available since the mid-1940s (besides Frank Sinkwich), punting statistics since 1949, and points scored since 1892--the very beginning of UGA football.