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Elementary and middle schools give awards for perfect attendance, and you have to figure that Brandon Cox won a lot of those awards.
If the Louisiana Ragin' Cajun football team had a similar award, Cox might be on his way to winning it for a third straight time.
As a true freshman in 2003, Cox started all 12 games at right offensive tackle and played 841 snaps, more than anyone else on the entire squad. As a sophomore last year, he started all 11 games at left tackle and was on the field for 840 snaps - again, more than any other Cajun.
This season ... nine straight starts, and by the time the season's over he'll likely be over the 800-snap mark once again. He'll get close by the end of Saturday's 6 p.m. home finale against Florida International.
"Anybody that's a competitor doesn't want to leave the field," Cox said Tuesday after the Cajuns' two-hour practice. "That's a competitor's attitude. You want to be out there when the big plays happen."
Cox has been out there for more than his share over the past three weeks, and it's he and his offensive line mates that have been the catalyst for UL's current three-game win streak and its vault into Sun Belt Conference contention.
Saturday's 31-28 win at North Texas, though, was the most fun, he said.
"I grew up about 25 minutes from there," the Irving, Tex., native said. "I had a lot of family there, and that made it pretty exciting when we scored at the end."
That score, one that game with 1:10 left, came at the end of an offensive lineman's dream - an 88-yard, 15-play march that took up 8:46 of clock time and included one downfield pass, one screen and 13 rushing plays that gobbled up 63 yards.
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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com
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But maybe that shouldn't be a surprise for an offensive front that's plowing the way for the nation's ninth-ranked running attack, generating a whopping 238.4 yards per game.
"That feels pretty good," the 6-foot-7, 295-pounder said. "We take a lot of pride in that. You want to be able to run the ball first and foremost."
"That's what makes it fun for the kids," said UL offensive line coach Ron Hudson. "They hear all those numbers and that makes them want to get back out there even more. Brandon wants to be out there every snap, but at the same time when we rotate guys, he's there encouraging them and telling them what's been going on out there."
"He makes it fun," Cox said of Hudson. "He's a funny guy, but when it's time to get serious he'll let you know. He gets you excited, pumped, ready to play."
Cox arrived on campus in time for spring practice in 2003 out of Nimitz High, and hasn't left the starting lineup since. But it's taken time for UL's offensive front to mesh.
"The time we had together in the spring helped," he said. "We formed a chemistry in two-a-days, and now when we're communicating we're clicking. It's when we don't communicate that we run into problems."
"I said at the start of the year that we don't have the most talented guys individually in the conference," Hudson said. "But as a unit, we're pretty tough to beat, and it's because all of them are happy for their teammates."
And Hudson said Cox's personality is a big part of that success.
"I can't imagine there's too many people out there that wouldn't want him as their son," Hudson said. "He's got more character than just about anybody I've ever been around, tremendous values, just a great young man."
If anything, maybe too nice.
"Sometimes we have to light a fire under him," Hudson said, "but he's made an effort to play tougher and meaner. He's still learning like the rest of it, but he's an incredible gamer. His level of play rises with the competition. He's learning, he's still growing, getting bigger and stronger, and he's got a lot of good football in front of him."
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