Kirby Smart Confirms James Cook Will Miss Peach Bowl After Father's Passing
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The Georgia Bulldogs will be without one of their star weapons on offense this Friday as Kirby Smart confirmed to Fox 5’s Cody Chaffins that running back James Cook will miss the Peach Bowl against Cincinnati after his father’s passing this week.
“He (Cook) found out yesterday morning and immediately got a flight home,” Smart said. “His brother is going too. It’s just really unfortunate. James is such a charismatic and loving teammate. He loves all of his teammates. He was really close to his family. It’s just a really tough situation to be dealing with the loss of his father at this time. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and we support him 100%. All of his teammates have his back. We just want him to be with his family and do the best that he can to deal with this.”
Cook was coming into his own as a Bulldog in recent games and was starting to get more and more touches in the offense how that he’s been healthy.
The former four-star athlete from Miami signed with Georgia in the 2018 recruiting class that was ranked No.1 in the nation. After having multiple backs in front of him for his first two years in Athens, Cook is having his best year as a Bulldog in 2020, rushing 45 times for 303 yards and three touchdowns in the regular season. The 5-foot-11 190-pounder has also caught 16 passes for 225 yards and two more touchdowns.
His best game so far in 2020 came against the Gamecocks where he rushed six times for 104 yards and two scores. He’s scored four touchdowns in his last two games and was expected to get plenty of touches to end the regular season in the Peach Bowl.
With Cook not playing on Friday, look for junior Zamir White to continue getting the bulk of the carries along with Kenny McIntosh and Daijun Edwards.
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