Auburn's Cox overcomes rough college start, muscle disorder

AUBURN, Ala. - Brandon Cox arrived at Auburn as a hotshot college prospect dreaming of stardom.<br> <br> But the young quarterback was in a car accident before his freshman season, a muscle disorder flared up and he headed home to get healthy and figure out if he still had a future in football.<br> <br> It turns out he had a pretty good one.<br> <br> Four years later, Cox is a second-year starter for the eighth-ranked Tigers (6-1), leading a team with Southeastern Conference and national title aspirations entering Saturday&#39;s game against Tulane (2-4).<br> <br> Out for a semester after the accident, Cox returned to Auburn to participate in bowl practices with more modest ambitions.<br> <br> ``When I came back here, I was coming back here just to play football,&#39;&#39; he said. ``It didn&#39;t matter if I was a third- or fourth-string quarterback. Whatever I had to do, I was just going to come out here and have fun and get a college degree and move on.<br> <br> ``A lot of things fell in place. To be where I&#39;m at now is just something special and it&#39;s something that I&#39;ll cherish for a long time.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Cox was diagnosed with a muscle disorder called myasthenia gravis before his 10th-grade year at Hewitt-Trussville High School, a disorder characterized by muscle weakness.<br> <br> With medicine keeping the disorder under control, he went on to become Alabama&#39;s Mr. Football and set a state high school record for career completion percentage.<br> <br> It all led to Auburn, where he was the presumed heir apparent to Jason Campbell. But the difficult summer workouts took their toll, and then he had a wreck when he fell asleep at the wheel while driving back to campus one evening.<br> <br> He woke up in a hospital bed with a concussion. The muscle disorder flared up, leading to severe double vision.<br> <br> With the coaches&#39; blessing, Cox returned home and spent a semester working out and working for his father&#39;s carpet business.<br> <br> ``I had thought I had it behind me, and I had it under control,&#39;&#39; Cox said. ``I had gotten a scholarship to play college football, a lifelong dream. Then to have it get shot down and have it in question was tough.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Cox realized quickly he wasn&#39;t ready to give up on that dream when he watched the Tigers the guys he worked out with over the summer on TV in their season opener against Southern California.<br> <br> His father was hardly surprised.<br> <br> ``I never doubted that he would go back,&#39;&#39; Terry Cox said. ``He was just kind of homesick, just kind of sitting around and feeling sorry for himself. I knew it would be short-lived. He had such a passion for (football), and I knew he would be going back.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The disorder hasn&#39;t affected him on the field, though he still gets bone density checks once a year because high dosages of his medication can make bones brittle.<br> <br> Cox has checked out fine each time, a good thing for a player in such a hard-hitting sport.<br> <br> He&#39;s now 14-4 as a starter, putting up solid but not gaudy numbers in a run-oriented offense. But Cox has thrown only two interceptions in 150 attempts this season.<br> <br> And he showed he wasn&#39;t exactly worried about brittle bones in last Saturday&#39;s 27-17 win over No. 9 Florida. Sacked five times in the first half, Cox stayed in the pocket and held onto the ball at times too long and never made an errant, panicky throw.<br> <br> It was a display of toughness an offensive lineman can love even if seeing his quarterback take all those hits makes him cringe.<br> <br> ``He&#39;s the type person that keeps his poise no matter what,&#39;&#39; guard Tim Duckworth said. ``He can get sacked, but he comes back the next play and makes a big pass. He&#39;s never going to let you get the best of him out there on the field.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> ``I&#39;ve never seen a guy that stands so poised in the pocket and sits in there and basically takes tons of shots and keeps getting back up,&#39;&#39; receiver Courtney Taylor added.<br> <br> Offensive coordinator Al Borges said it wasn&#39;t one of Cox&#39;s best games he was 18-of-27 for 182 yards. But Borges found plenty to praise in his resilience.<br> <br> ``The thing I look for in a quarterback is how he is going to respond when he&#39;s being hit,&#39;&#39; Borges said. ``They either stand in there and throw it, unperturbed by the pass rush, or they start (rushing) throws because they&#39;re concerned about being hit in the pocket.<br> <br> ``Well, he never does that. And never&#39;s a long time.&#39;&#39;

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