When Steve Spurrier was at South Carolina and Mark Richt was at Georgia, the Ol’ Ball Coach once famously opined that he preferred to catch UGA early on in the season “because you could always count on them having two or three key players suspended.” While the head coaches at both SEC East programs have since moved on, the policies that led to the OBC’s scheduling preference when it came to UGA haven’t.
In the last month, six Georgia football players have been arrested on various misdemeanor charges. The most recent of the in-the-legal-doghouse sextet are sophomore linebackers Robert Beal and Brenton Cox (pictured), who were arrested earlier this week on marijuana possession charges.
As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reminded everyone, the weed arrests, per the university’s student-athlete policy, will very likely result in one-game suspensions for both Beal and Cox. The newspaper also adds that, "[b]ecause the arrest took place in a campus dorm, Beal and Cox are also subject to UGA student-judiciary action.”
How that part of the process would impact the players’ university-mandated suspension is unclear.
Cox is a projected starter at linebacker while Beal will continue competing for a starting job throughout the remainder of the offseason and on into summer camp.
As for the other off-field issues? Last month, four of Kirby Smart‘s Bulldogs were arrested for various offenses, with those ranging from traffic violations/suspended license (linebacker Jaden Hunter) to simple battery (defensive back Latavious Brini) to disorderly conduct (cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, wide receiver Tyler Simmons).
At this point, it’s unclear if any of those incidents will result in any type of game suspensions.
Georgia, incidentally, opens up the 2019 season on the road against SEC East rival Vanderbilt in late August.