When Alex Brown heard, he was quick to respond.
Just as he has several times before.
“I sent him a message,” Brown said. “I told him, ‘I’m rooting for you.’”
That message was sent to Florida edge rusher [autotag]Brenton Cox[/autotag], who said this during spring camp, “I’m going for a sack every half. A sack a game or a sack a half. Either way, I’ve got to get it.”
Brown hopes he does get it because the former Gator great is still a Florida fan. He knows that if his school record for sacks in a season (13) is broken it will be good news for the 2022 Florida football team.
On the one hand, it will mean that Cox plays hard every play, something he admits he didn’t do all the time last season. On the other hand, if Cox is rushing the passer that much, Florida is probably playing from ahead because the other team has to throw the ball a lot.
“That’s what happened to me because I was playing for [autotag]Steve Spurrier[/autotag] and the other team was always behind,” he said.
But he also knows it won’t be easy. If it was easy, the record wouldn’t still be standing 21 years after it was established.
And there is this.
“They didn’t know anything about me my sophomore year,” Brown said. “They know about Brenton Cox.”
In three seasons as a Gator after transferring from Georgia, Cox has a total of 13.5 sacks, way short of Brown’s career record of 33.
“I’m a little surprised the single-season record is still there, but the career mark, I think that will stand for a while,” Brown said. “The issue with Brenton is that teams know about him and will double-team him.
“But I do think the single-season record will fall in the next five years because of the quality of players [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] is bringing in.”
Funny, but that sack record almost never happened.
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