On radio shows across the country, during the Power Hours on VI Radio and at the VI Handicapping Seminar over the summer, I went to great lengths to have Georgia fifth-year senior quarterback Joe Cox’s back. After watching him in the spring game, I was confident that he was poised for a solid season.

After all, it’s not like Cox had spent his previous four years in Athens sitting behind scrubs. Last time I checked, D.J. Shockley and Matthew Stafford were drawing NFL paychecks. In 2006, Cox led UGA to a win in his only start at Ole Miss and he also rallied the Dawgs to a comeback win over Colorado.

As Chris Leak’s replacement at Independence High School in the Charlotte area, Cox led his high school team to an unbeaten record in 31 starts. With four years in Mark Richt’s offense, not unlike Shockley when he led UGA to an SEC title after sitting behind David Greene for four years, Cox was comfortable in the system and was a long-time leadership presence in the locker room.

When Cox had flu-like symptoms that caused him to miss practices and leave Athens for Stillwater later than the rest of the team in Week 1, those factors led to a suspect performance and a 24-10 loss at Oklahoma St. And Georgia fans were concerned, if not in an uproar.

A week later when Cox threw a costly pick-six to South Carolina’s Eric Norwood early in the fourth quarter, those same UGA fans seemingly hit the panic button. Throughout it all, Cox kept his confidence and made it clear that he wasn’t distracted by any criticism.

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Well, those critics were silenced with authority this past Saturday night in Fayetteville. That’s when Cox tied a school record with five touchdown passes to lead Georgia (2-1 straight up, 1-2 against the spread) to a 52-41 win at Arkansas as a two-point underdog.

Going into Week 4, Cox ranks second in the SEC in average passing yards per game (246.0), third in pass efficiency (165.5) and fourth in total offense (231.3). He’ll lead UGA up against Arizona St. on Saturday between the hedges.

Most books are listing the Dawgs as 12-point favorites with a total of 54. The Sun Devils are plus-350 on the money line (risk $100 to win $350). They are making their first trip into the southeast since playing at Miami in 1997.

Remember, UGA out-yarded ASU 461-212 in a 27-10 win in Tempe last year as a seven-point road favorite. Dennis Erickson’s team is undefeated in a pair of games against cupcake foes (Idaho St. and ULM).

Alabama (3-0 SU, 2-1 ATS) will play host to the Razorbacks in the SEC opener for Nick Saban’s squad. Most spots have installed the Crimson Tide as a 17 1/2-point ‘chalk’ after Las Vegas Sports Consultants made ‘Bama just 14 ½ on the send-out. The total is in the 57-58 range. Gamblers should take note of the fact that weather forecasts are calling for heavy rain and thunderstorms in Tuscaloosa on Saturday afternoon.

The Tide is out to a 3-0 start after demolishing North Texas by a 53-7 count as a 37-point favorite last week. Greg McElroy threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for another, while Mark Ingram had a TD run and a TD catch.

Bobby Petrino’s team jumped out to a 21-10 lead before Cox got hot in last week’s loss to Georgia. On the bright side, QB Ryan Mallett looked incredible in the losing effort. Mallett threw for 408 yards and five touchdowns without an interception. He’ll get one of his best wideouts back this week, as Lucas Miller (30 catches in ’08) is listed as “probable.”

Alabama is 2-2 ATS in four SEC home games as a double-digit favorite on Saban’s watch. Meanwhile, Arkansas is 2-1 ATS in three SEC road games as a double-digit underdog under Petrino.

Florida (3-0 SU, 1-1 ATS) is coming off a lackluster performance in its 23-13 win over Tennessee as a 30-point home favorite. The Vols flustered UF’s offense all day thanks to a brilliant scheme from defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin and remarkable play from safety Eric Berry. (Quick point: M-Kiffin is the nation’s best d-coordinator and Berry is the country’s best defensive player.)

What did bettors learn from the Gators’ ho-hum victory? For starters, they have issues at the wide-receiver position. Senior WR Carl Moore (back) and freshman WR Andre DeBose haven’t played this season and won’t be back anytime soon. DeBose, who some had suggested would be Percy Harvin’s replacement at least in terms of the speed and quickness he brings to the table, is out for the year after having surgery on his hamstring. Moore remains out indefinitely.

Sophomore WR Deonte Thompson (hamstring) missed last week’s win over UT and didn’t practice Tuesday, according to the Gainesville Sun. Thompson is listed as “probable,” however, along with LB Brandon Spikes, who missed most of the second half last week with a strained Achilles. Spikes also missed practice Tuesday along with six others (all non-starters) who had flu-like symptoms.

The Gators go to Lexington on Saturday in search of their 23rd straight victory over Kentucky. They spanked UK 63-5 as 25-point home favorites in 2008. In UF’s last trip to Commonwealth Stadium, it won a 45-37 decision as a seven-point road favorite. The ‘Cats had beaten top-ranked LSU in triple overtime the previous week.

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As of Thursday, most betting shops had the Gators favored by 22 with a total of 53. Kentucky (2-0 SU, 1-1 ATS) owns an 11-8 spread record in 19 games as a home underdog during Rich Brooks’ seven-year tenure. UF is 6-8 ATS as a road favorite since 2005 but went 4-0 versus the number in such spots last season.

The ‘Cats stroked Miami (OH.) 42-0 in Week 1 before enjoying an open date. They had to rally to knock off in-state rival Louisville by a 31-27 score last week. The Cardinals took the cash as 13-point road underdogs.

LSU (3-0 SU, 1-1-1 ATS) will take its unbeaten ledger to Starkville where it has enjoyed plenty of success in recent years. The Tigers have won nine straight (and 16 of 17) over the Bulldogs by a combined score of 374-105.

Les Miles and Co. captured a 45-0 win at Scott Field in the 2007 season opener. When these SEC West rivals met last year, LSU collected a 34-24 win but MSU took the cash as a 24 ½-point underdog.

The Bayou Bengals have posted wins over Washington (31-23), Vandy (23-9) and Louisiana (31-3) to date, and the victory over Steve Sarkisian’s team certainly deserves more merit now that we’ve seen the Huskies take down USC at the same venue.

Mississippi St. (2-1 SU, 1-1 ATS) returns home after back-to-back road contests. The Bulldogs lost 49-24 at Auburn before beating Vandy by a 15-3 count last week. They hooked up their backers with the outright win versus the Commodores as nine-point road ‘dogs.

Senior RB Anthony Dixon ran for 123 yards and senior QB Tyson Lee scored on a 22-yard TD run to put the game away in the final stanza. MSU out-yarded Vandy 341-157.

Coming off its moral victory at The Swamp, Tennessee (1-2 SU, 2-1 ATS) will take on Ohio and the Fightin’ Frank Solich’s at Neyland Stadium. Most spots have UT favored by 23 with a 45 ½-point tally.

The Bobcats lost 23-16 at home to UConn in their lid-lifter. Since then, they have beaten North Texas (31-30) and Cal Poly (28-10).

**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**

--LVSC opened Vandy as an 11-point road favorite for Saturday’s trip to Texas to take on Rice. As of Thursday, the ‘Dores were seven-point ‘chalk’ with a total of 48. When the Owls had the record-setting QB-WR combination of Chase Clement and Jarett Dillard last season, Vandy beat them by a 38-21 count as an eight-point favorite.

--Auburn crashed the LVSC Top 30 in a 30th-place tie with Missouri this week. The Tigers will host Ball St. on Saturday as 33-point favorites. LVSC sent the number out at just 27.

--By now, you’ve all seen, read and/or heard about the back-and-forth barbs between Urban Meyer and Lane Kiffin this week. In my opinion, Meyer has come off as looking a little silly and he’s made Kiffin (almost) look like the good guy. If there’s a winner in the war of words this week, I’d probably call it Kiffin. But here’s the thing: You’ve got to win a few games before you talk trash. Kiffin is 1-2 as a college head coach and 5-15 as an NFL head coach. That’s six wins total as a head coach and that’s garbage. Translation: I’m tired of listening to Lane Kiffin. Show me something besides a double-digit loss that you’re proud of and then – maybe – he’ll have a little credibility in my eyes.

--Florida and Georgia signed a contract this week that’ll keep its annual showdown in Jacksonville through 2016. UGA head coach Mark Richt had been pushing to have the game moved to Atlanta at least once every few years, but that won’t be happening anytime soon.

--Remember Steve Spurrier’s resignation speech at Florida in January of 2002? He remarked how “10-win seasons weren’t good enough anymore” and that he “wouldn’t mind being the underdog again.” After a double-digit win over Tennessee was met with general disgust and disappointment by most of the Florida faithful last week, something tells me Meyer knows exactly what Spurrier was thinking more than seven years ago.

--Paul Finebaum of the Mobile Press-Register suggested in his Tuesday column that Florida’s perch and Meyer’s status atop the national radar over the last few years could be ending soon.

Brian Edwards can be reached at briane@vegasinsider.com.

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