Latest / Beliefs, Ballots, And BullDawgs / September 2, 2026
Transcript
- Greg: What's up, everybody, and welcome back to Beliefs, Ballots, and Bulldogs. Today is Tuesday, September 2nd. I'm your host, Greg Miller, and ⁓ we're gonna have some fun today. ⁓ for starters, we're gonna talk about Saturday. We're gonna win. All right, that's the extent of how we're gonna talk about Saturday. Because truth be told, ⁓ as a dog fan, I don't think any of us really have any inhibitions or concerns or any inability to predict what's gonna happen Saturday. George is gonna win. The question is more so about. What can we possibly learn Saturday? Because we want to see what it means for the next four months. Georgia's a national program these days. Everybody's got everybody's got an opinion on us. Preseason expectations are as high as they always are. Pick to win the SEC, ranked about number two or three nationally, depending on which poll you look at. So today I'm going to do something a little bit different. I'm going to make five predictions about what I believe will happen for the Georgia Bulldogs in this 2026 season. And I five things I think could happen, five things that I'm willing to right here in this moment put my name on, and we can come back to this episode in December and just see how stupid I was. Prediction number one, Gunnar Stockton will finish in the top five of the Heisman voting. I'm I'm gonna say it, I'm putting it out there. I look, I get it. There's there's a lot of questions. We haven't even opened the season, but look, I I think both Georgia and Gunner know what's needed from him this year. And this isn't a situation where he's just gonna be asked to manage games and hand the ball off. He he's he's legit. He's the quarterback, he's the leader, he's a senior. He he's coming off a season where he threw for all those 3,000 yards. ⁓ and he's coming into a season where I think he's got a clearer understanding of the offense, but also his role in the offense and and what the dogs need from him. And here's another reason why I I like this prediction. I I think this year, Georgia needs Gunner to be the guy. If we're gonna win the SEC and make a serious run at at the national title, and that is the goal, ⁓ Gunnar can't just be good enough. He can't be a game manager. He's gonna have to be one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. And I think he is, and I think he'll show it to us. So I'm putting it out there. Prediction number one, Gunnar Stockton finishes in the top five of the Heisman Trophy voting. Probably won't win it, but but he'll be in New York. He'll be on camera. He'll look uncomfortable as he could possibly be, but he'll be there, and that's prediction number one. Prediction number two and this one stings. Georgia will lose one regular season game. I I just I I call it like I see it. Like I I just I don't think we go undefeated. It's a long, tough schedule. And I'm okay with that. And in fact, I think there's a there's a very real possibility that we lose a game that maybe people feel like we should have won and overreact and lose their minds a little bit. Look, maybe it's one of those games on the road. That that trip to Oxford just makes me nervous. I can see it. Maybe it's one of those games where we just commit too many penalties, have a couple turnovers. Whatever it is. We we know it's gonna happen. We all know it's gonna happen. So I'm gonna put it out there and predict it. We're gonna lose a game, but it's not gonna derail the season. We we've gotten we've gotten so conditioned to thinking that that one loss just means this team isn't who we think it is anymore. And I that I just don't think that can be college football today, especially not the SEC. the goal is to is to go twelve and ⁓ obviously, but but that's That's almost unrealistic at this day. We the goal is to be playing the best when it matters the most at the end of the season. ⁓ so that's it. I I I'm predicting that that ⁓ Georgia will have a regular season loss, but we will still win the SEC. That's prediction number three. So prediction number two is we'll have the regular season loss. Prediction number three is we will still win the SEC. It's not a bold prediction necessarily. We are picked to be the favorites. and I think we'll win despite that one regular season trip-up. I think we're gonna lose. We we have spent the last few years just living under the microscope where anything short of those national title dominant teams just kind of feels like a failure. ⁓ you know, we we lose key players every year, turnover in a program like this because of the draft and things like that. I mean, it it's just it is what it is. And every year we hear that ⁓ they lost too many guys this year. And well, every year the next group steps up and and that's that's the way this machine is built to work. And this year's roster, well, there there's a few questions. There's some inexperienced pieces that are gonna have to step up, but I I look, I think they will. And maybe I'm not going out on as big a limb as as some, but I I think that makes this at least an interesting prediction because I think we're gonna win the SEC because I think those young guys are gonna develop. I think by the time November rolls around, this team is gonna be a problem. ⁓ and I think we'll be there. I think we'll be lifting the trophy SEC championships despite the one loss. Prediction number four. And this one's probably out on a little bigger limb. By the end of the season, my prediction is that we'll be talking more about the illustrious Georgia offense than the defense. ⁓ when you think of Georgia football, you naturally think defense, Kirby Smart, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Raylan Wilson, CJ Allen. I mean, you think just defense, NFL players everywhere. And don't get me wrong, that that will still absolutely be a part of this team's identity. But I think the offense this year is gonna surprise some people. There's a lot of returning players. You know, obviously you got Stockton, you got Fraser and Bowens in the backfield. That is a great one-two punch. The receiving room is unproven and it hasn't shown anything yet, but the talents there, I think we'll spread the ball around. I'm not saying we're gonna come to some air rate offense. It but I do think we'll be a little more consistently explosive. You know, last year we scored 35 points in seven different games. So this is this is not a team that's incapable of scoring. but I think by the time we get to, by the time we get to November, the question will no longer be can Georgia's defense carry them? I think the question might become, hey, just how good can this offense be? And I think ultimately it will be that offensive rises that that I think will give us a chance to win the whole thing. Which leads to prediction number five. Georgia will play for the national championship. That's it. That's that's the big one. I I I'm not predicting a playoff appearance. I'm not predicting a a playoff win and a quarterfinal win. I'm not predicting that we'll make it to the semifinals. I'm saying right here, right now, September 2nd, Georgia Bulldogs will be in the national title game. When I look at the when I look at us right now, I we don't have to have everything go perfectly. We can win games in a different r different variety of ways. I I see a team that has clearly enough talent to survive from adversity. ⁓ the quarterback's a gamer. He's got some experience. Coaching staff has been here before. ⁓ the program has just continued to recruit and develop at an elite level. And frankly, for whatever reason, I feel like this year maybe there's a little bit more of a chip on their shoulder. And there's a little bit more of that feeling that hey, this Georgia team's got something to prove. We we've won the SEC recently, but we hadn't been back to to the top since twenty twenty two. And I think that starts to eat at these players. The expectation hasn't changed, but but the Rising to it has. I think the players are bothered. The coaches are bothered. I know as fans we we're a little bit bothered. I think this might be the year where Georgia puts everything back together. So ⁓ those are my five predictions. One, Gunnar Stockton will finish in the top five of the Heisman voting. Two, Georgia will unfortunately lose a regular season game. Three, despite that, Georgia will go on to win the SEC. Four, by November, we will be Highlighting and talking more about this Georgia offense and its explosiveness than we will be relying on the defense. And number five, Georgia will play for the national championship. I'm gonna take it one step further. Georgia beats Texas in the SEC championship game and earns a spot. To the national championship and wins it. Beat Texas in the SEC, get to the playoffs, and win the national championship. Clip it, save it, bring it back to me. I don't care. You can tell me, I have no idea what I'm talking about, but I'm putting my name on it. I'm putting it on video, I'm putting it out there into the ether webs for all to see. 2026 national championship will be the Georgia Bulldogs. And Saturday afternoon, we're gonna finally get to put our eyes on it and find out whether or not I'm crazy. Whether not I might be seeing something coming. All right, guys. So we're going to get into what is obviously a much more serious note. And I'm going to talk a little bit about the Lindsey Clancy case. Everybody knows it. We all have our opinions. But I kind of want to see what does the Bible say to us about when the need for mercy and justice collide. This is this is just one of those. This is one of those news stories you just read and and you almost don't know what to do. Do with it. You don't know what to think. You don't know what to say. And sometimes you're not even really sure how you're supposed to feel. This is this is obviously one of those stories. This is this is a young mother accused of killing her three children. Three small children. And I mean, after weeks of testimony, the jury seems to be struggling to come up with any kind of verdict about whether or not she's criminally responsible for what happened. Now her her defense team has said, and we're all familiar with this, that she was she was suffering from postpartum psychosis. And the prosecution is trying to make the case that no, she she knew what she was doing. And as as I'm sitting here, I I think for us, the the most in question I don't think the most important question is, you know, what do we think the verdict should be? Look, that that's for those 12 people in the jury box to decide. I I think for us as Christians, there's a much harder question. And it's and it's big picture in situations like this is what do we do when the need for justice and mercy collide? Because look, I I know what I want in this case. I I I want justice. When somebody hurts innocent people, I believe there needs to be accountability, and I want there to be accountability. I want evil called evil. I want innocent people protected and defended. I don't think Christianity calls us to pretend that terrible things aren't terrible. But then the Bible does come along and starts talking about mercy and forgiveness and compassion and redemption. And in cases like this, that that makes things start to get a little uncomfortable because mercy sounds wonderful until the person that needs it has done something that we just find almost impossible to forgive. That's when we start really kind of. Discovering some things about ourselves. Maybe we don't actually hate sin as much as we think we do. Maybe we just hate other people's sin. We want justice when someone else does something horrible, but we want mercy when we remember our own failures. And somewhere in the middle of all of that, God tells us that hey, you're going to have to learn both: justice and mercy, truth and compassion. Accountability and grace. And those things aren't enemies in the character of God. They are both part of what makes him up and who he is. One of the most difficult verses in scripture to me is Romans chapter 12, verse 19. Apostle Paul says, Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. It's kind of a strange command because W when somebody does something horrible, our first instinct is usually to say, hey, somebody's got to pay. And scripture says, yes, but you're not God. You don't have to become the judge of the universe. You don't have to carry vengeance around in your heart. You can pursue justice without becoming consumed by hatred. And that's different. Forgiveness doesn't mean saying that what happened wasn't bad. Forgiveness doesn't mean that nobody should be held accountable. Forgiveness doesn't even mean there shouldn't be consequences. Forgiveness means, and this is important, I'm not going to make myself the final judge. I'm going to put it in God's hands. And let me tell you, that is incredibly difficult, especially, you know, when the scope of things you're asked to be released is this enormous. And and here's something else about this case that I just can't stop thinking about. And that's That's the response of the father. Patrick Clancy has publicly expressed his forgiveness towards Lindsay. And look, I can't even pretend to understand what this feels like. I don't think any of us could, but it does. It makes me think about Jesus because Jesus didn't teach forgiveness from a comfortable, comfortable distance. He demonstrated it. He demonstrated it while people were killing him. Luke chapter 23 tells us that while Jesus was being crucified, he said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Think about that now. He didn't come back and say, Hey, Father, punish them. Not Father, make them understand what they've done. Not even Father, make sure everybody knows I'm right. And he was. Jesus said on the cross, Father, forgive them. It's not weakness. That is that is the most radical kind of strength imaginable. And here's where this becomes personal. Most of us aren't dealing with anything remotely comparable to the Clancy case. We've all got people who betrayed us, who embarrass us, who may have told a lie about us or abandoned us, or people that have said something that just can't be taken back. And maybe the question isn't whether we're capable of forgiving the worst thing imaginable. Maybe the question is what are we still refusing to release because we believe somebody owes us something? Because Jesus doesn't call us to receive forgiveness. He calls us to become people who forgive. And that's hard, really hard. But but maybe that's because grace was never supposed to be easy. Here's what I don't want us to do with a story like Lindsay Clancy's. I I don't want us to rush to conclusions. I don't want us to pretend we know everything that happened inside of another person's mind. I don't want us turning a tragedy like this into some sort of political argument. I don't want us using mental illness as an excuse for evil. And I don't want us using evil as an excuse to stop seeing somebody as a human being. Because here's something Christianity insists that sometimes our culture forgets. Every human being is made in the image of God. Even people who have done terrible things. That doesn't erase what they did. It doesn't erase the consequences and it doesn't erase justice. But it does mean that we don't get to decide that somebody has become less than human. And maybe that's the hardest part about following Jesus. He keeps asking us to see people the way he sees them, even when we'd rather not. And maybe that's the challenge from this awful, awful story. Maybe it's not, you know, what would I have done? Maybe it's not, you know, what what sentence should she receive or whose side am I on? Maybe it should be more of can I care about justice without becoming hateful? Can I believe something is terribly wrong without believing the person who did it is beyond God's reach? Can I have compassion without excusing the evil? Can I forgive without pretending that it didn't happen? And maybe most importantly, do I actually believe that God's justice is better than mine? Because if I do. Then I no longer have to carry vengeance. I can tell the truth. I can protect people. I can demand accountability, and I can grieve what happened. I can stand with those victims and still leave ultimate judgment to God. It's not easy, but neither is following Jesus. And maybe that's exactly the reason he tells us to do it. All right, guys, that'll do it for today. As always, get in your Bible, say your prayers, love one another, and tell the truth. God bless.