UGA has big issues on offense

Sorting through the issues:

The quarterback question

Cox’s performance in the opening loss to Oklahoma State has drawn fire, the common criticisms being that he wasn’t as accurate as advertised, seemed sluggish in his decision-making and lacked velocity on his throws.

Since there is no basis of comparison — it was, after all, Cox’s first meaningful playing time in almost three years — no one knows how much his performance was affected by two days of flu-like symptoms.

“You know, I don’t know,” coach Mark Richt said Tuesday. “You come off the flu, you don’t feel great but he felt good enough to play and perform. I hope he’s 100 percent this [next] ballgame and doesn’t have anything that could keep him from a peak performance.”

Cox apparently anticipated the criticism that followed his performance.

“After the game, me and Joe were, like, the only ones in the locker room just talking [about] how people are going to be talking,” receiver A.J. Green said. “And I was, like, ‘Joe, you don’t need to worry about that. You’re going to be fine. Just don’t worry about what people say about you.’ ”

“I’m sure there was stuff said,” Cox said. “It’s not tough [to ignore], to be honest with you, because half the people that have things to say after a game have never played a down of football in their life. I wouldn’t criticize somebody for something I’ve never ... done before.”

Richt said Cox remains “definitely the No. 1 guy” and was noncommittal on how backup quarterback Logan Gray might be used against South Carolina. Last week’s game plan called for Gray to be used some in the red zone, which Georgia reached only once.

“That’s what we had planned last week,” Richt said. “I’m not going to say for sure what we’ve got planned this week.”

The tailback topic

Georgia gained only 95 yards rushing last Saturday and although Richard Samuel had 87 of them in his first start at tailback, he admitted Tuesday that he should have gotten more yards out of some carries by breaking or eluding tackles.

“I’ve got to be harder to [bring] down,” he said.

The running game appears to need reinforcement, which is where Caleb King comes in. Sidelined since Aug. 12 with a pulled hamstring, the former Gwinnett County high school star is expected to play against South Carolina.

“How much will depend on this week’s practices and probably also will have to do with what he does when he gets his opportunity,” Richt said. “He may get hot, you know.”

The receiver rotation

One of the surprises — and mysteries — of the OSU game is that Georgia played only four wide receivers, not using highly touted freshmen Marlon Brown and Rantavious Wooten.

Richt attributed that to the “typical” tendency to go with more seasoned players in a tight game but said he expects Brown and Wooten to play this week.

“We cannot go the season with just four receivers, so we got to play those guys,” Richt said. “And I told [them]: ‘You got to make sure in practice you’re sharp.’ ”

The opening game underscored the need for other receivers to complement Green, who was blanketed by the Oklahoma State defense.

“I think this week we’ll have more focus on other guys,” Green said.

Richt agreed: “We must be diversified. We must spread the ball around.”

The line’s lapses

With so many playmakers gone from last season’s offense, the plan was for the offensive line — healthier and more experienced than a year ago — to smooth the transition.

The plan did not hold up in Week 1.

The line “was hot and cold ... not flawless by any means,” Richt said. A key sack of Cox, triggering a fumble that led to an OSU touchdown, was “a protection issue,” Richt said.

Worse, the line lost its starting left tackle, Trinton Sturdivant, to a season-ending knee injury for the second year in a row.

Richt said Vince Vance will start at left tackle this week and added that the team is “anxiously awaiting” the return of tackle Josh Davis from shoulder surgeries perhaps next week.