Latest / Beliefs, Ballots, And BullDawgs / Friday August 21, 2026
Transcript
- Greg: Hey, what's up and happy Friday, dog fans? It is in fact Friday, August 21st. I'm your host, Greg Miller, and this is the latest episode of Beliefs, Ballots, and Bulldogs. ⁓ we decided I'm gonna keep things a little lighter this Friday and we're gonna have a little fun with our UGA discussion and we're gonna talk quarterbacks, but we're not gonna talk gunner. This isn't a quarterback controversy segment. Gunner's the dude, that's obvious. ⁓ today we will talk about the backup quarterbacks. And look, I'm a realist. I understand that us being Georgia. We're never gonna get to see the backups the way we want to. We're never gonna blow teams out and bring the backups in and show them off and and run three or four quarterbacks out there showing the fans everything we wanna see. ⁓ so most of what I'm ⁓ gonna highlight in here about the backups will have to be seen by the coaches in practice. But look, there's an off chance. There there's been plenty of quarterbacks over the last handful of years that didn't start the season as a starter but ended up having a profound impact. So I'm hoping that ⁓ the names mentioned today won't be impactful on the 2026 season, but maybe names that ⁓ one of them will step up for the future. But either way, let's ⁓ let's give these backup quarterbacks some shine because you probably won't see a whole lot of them this year. That's not really Kirby's MO. ⁓ and if we do happen to see any of these guys, ⁓ you better believe it'll most likely be in the late fourth quarter and they'll just be turning around and handing it off until they can get in victory formation and take a knee. ⁓ but hey, backup quarterbacks matter, their reps matter. So we we gotta figure out who who we got back there. And ⁓ at some point this is one of these guys is likely to be to be next. But let's talk about who gets snaps and and in what possible situations we might see these guys because ⁓ we got some different different guys with with some different timelines as far as how long they've been in camp on campus. You got Ryan Puglisi, Ryan Montgomery, Bryson Beaver, and Hezekiah Millender. ⁓ and and I think they all bring a little something different to the table. ⁓ you know, to me, ⁓ based on recruiting rankings and and film, I I think the f one of the most physically gifted quarterbacks in the SEC is is our number two, or who I think is number two is Puglisi. ⁓ so this is guy I think needs to get some meaningful reps and and not just the the mop-up duty handed off three times at the end of the game. I I want to see Puglisi really run the offense and I'm hoping that maybe some games will be up comfortably in the third quarter and and we actually get to see Ryan give some some actual drives. Let him Let him throw the ball on first down. Let him make some checks on protection. Let him let him operate the play action. Let him work with the real receivers, not just the low-level backups. Let him work on getting the ball out on time and ⁓ let him manage the offense like Georgia might actually need him to at some point. Because look, if if something happens to Gunner, ⁓ Georgia's gonna need that QB2 to be to be in for possibly a series, a quarter, maybe even a game. God forbid, something worse. And you don't want that first real moment to to come in Tuscaloosa against Alabama w with everybody holding their breath. You gotta get these guys some experience, get them some snaps. You want them to have already seen some live reps, you want them to to have already called some plays in the huddle, ⁓ taken some hits, handled the crowd noise, and and just gone on from play to play and been able to settle down and get in the rhythm of the game. So You know, for Peglisi, I I think the that snap plan should be pretty simple. I think he's the clear cut number two right now. And I think any chance we get to get him some live and meaningful reps, we need to do it. ⁓ I I think he needs to get in there and and just run the offense. Not a fake offense, not a don't mess this up offense. Let him run the actual offense and and see what he can do. ⁓ the next guy who I I think is really the the one that's probably likely battling Ryan Paglisi for the the actual backup role is is another Ryan, Ryan Montgomery. Montgomery may not have the physical gifts of Lisa. Montgomery reminds me of ⁓ kind of a Jake Fromm type. ⁓ but he's he's really got ⁓ some upside. He's a real cerebral player. ⁓ I don't think he's the kind of guy that we necessarily need to get snaps right away. I'd like to see him come in ⁓ more in a a traditional backup role, get some clean reps, get some game speed experience, in some situations maybe where the staff can evaluate his comfort, his timing, his command. w without throwing him into a a chaotic situation. So maybe he gets into some real late game drive, some some second half work if we're up big. and maybe we'll let him throw a little bit instead of just handing it off. But I think the real key with with Montgomery is just getting him just a little bit of confidence and rhythm. Get him some snaps just where he can start to build a little bit of that. Let him operate, maybe throw a few passes, let him find and make some easy reads and just see if we can get him to the point where the game is slowing down just a little bit for him. ⁓ we don't need him to be the guy right now. But if there comes a long-term situation where, you know, I think Paglisi's the guy if we need him to come in and finish a game, maybe even make one start in a dire situation. But if it goes to an extended absence where Gunner might be out for multiple games or things like that, I think they might give Montgomery a real look. He's a sharp kid. ⁓ everything I've heard is he's really picking up the offense well. ⁓ and just the kind of guy like I said, reminds you of Jake From who you just you know he can manage the game and he's not gonna come in there and likely make a lot of mistakes. The next guy I want talk about is ⁓ transfer kit, Bryson Beaver. This this was kind of a wild card. He had ⁓ he had enrolled in Oregon, was a pretty high-level recruit. ⁓ and and since he decided to transfer to Georgia, he's ⁓ he's really kind of an interesting developmental piece in in that quarterback room. Definitely not a guy we need to get ready. He's barely had a chance to even pick up the offense. ⁓ but he's a guy that, especially in practice, I think we need to see, you know, we need the coaches to be able to identify what this guy's tools look like within our system. ⁓ I ⁓ you know, I doubt we'll see him in any late game action. I I don't expect him to get in as as the fourth quarterback or third quarterback. ⁓ but he's a definitely ⁓ an all-around talent. He's got a different skill set. I think the staff likes him. ⁓ but I don't think we'll see him in any meaningful steps. But but in practice, I think that that beaver's got some potential. And look, it this may be a one year thing where he's just here to to get some snaps, stay on a roster, make a little NIL money, and and he may transfer out at the end of the year. But Hopefully, somewhere along the lines in practice, the coaches can get Bryson Beaver some ⁓ some meaningful snaps and see if this kid might be something we need to build around in the future. Because I think he's got some potential. ⁓ then the fourth guy we want to talk about, again, similar situation to Bryson, not a guy that's likely to get any meaningful snaps or any snaps at all. ⁓ but it's Hezekiah Millender, and he's really the biggest dual threat piece on the in the quarterback room. ⁓ you know, he's a he's a local kid, played at Clark Central. He's not real great stats, but just a great athlete. He's not a stand-in-the-pocket guy. He's a true dual threat. He's a guy who scares you with his legs. ⁓ and again, this is just another guy that I don't expect Hezekiah Milliner to get a single snap this year in in an in an actual live game. ⁓ but hopefully the coaches can get some time with him in practice, learn a little bit about him and and and see if if he's a guy that maybe we can build around in the future. and that's that's the name of the game with in the SEC and in big boy college football. You Y hope you don't need QB two and you certainly hope you don't need QB three or four, but you gotta have ⁓ prepped. You gotta have ⁓ ready just in case. So here's my question to fellow dog fans is how how do you think we should handle the backup quarterback situation? Should Paglisi get every meaningful snap? Should Montgomery get some early in there? Or should we possibly try to get a guy like Beaver or Millenderson run because of their athletic upside? I look it We know at some point we're gonna see a second quarterback, whether it's in a blowout or an injury or just Gunner gets his helmet knocked off. So the question is, who is it? What's it what's the scenario likely to be? And and as dog fans, you know, what what are you hoping to see? All right, we're gonna get into the scriptural topic for the day. And this one, it's a story we've talked about not too long ago. ⁓ but ⁓ this one's been wrestling with me. I I heard this a while back and it's I just haven't been able to get me out get it out of my head. And Oddly enough, it came from a very unlikely source for any sort of theological ⁓ issue, but it came from Theo Vaughn. And look, if you don't know Theo Vaughn, he he's a comedian. He he hosts one of the biggest podcasts in the world. Now, look, I'm an old dude. I'm old enough to remember Theo back when he made his back in the old school MTV days on real world road rules, all that. Not a ⁓ not a time frame, or not a particular part of that time frame we should be proud of. But look, Theo is successful, he's famous, he's Absolutely hilarious. This dude has interviewed presidents, celebrities, athletes. Everybody knows Theo Vaughn. And yet this was a moment where, and I don't think this was scripted, he, you know, sitting behind a microphone, Theo got very, very vulnerable. He talked about behaviors in his own life that he wasn't proud of, patterns that he wanted to change. And he described something that I think a whole lot more people understand than ever want to admit it. He would ask God to help him stop, but all the while he knew there was still part of him that expected and maybe even wanted to go right back to those patterns. And eventually over time, that that prayer becomes more honest. And essentially, he's he's saying, God, I need you in that part of me too. Lynteo says something that stopped me, and he said, I think I want a new story. And that's that's heavy, a new story. Think about how many. How many of you guys listening right now want exactly that? You just feel like the story you're living isn't the story you're supposed to be living. Maybe there's a chapter of your life that you're just tired of rereading, making the same mistake, the same relationship, the same resentments, addictions, same excuses, insecurities, the same repetitive cycle, just a different day. And somewhere deep down inside of you, you're thinking, God, I want a new story. Well, ⁓ there's a man in John chapter five, and again, we we've shared this story before, but it's a good one. Chap John in chapter five, a man had been living with the same story for thirty-eight years. And then Jesus walks up to him and asks him one of the strangest questions in the Bible. John tells us that Jesus is in Jerusalem near the pool of Bethesda. ⁓ this is a pool where where people are hanging around all day, and that they're people suffering from all kinds of disabilities. And among them there's one particular man, and in John chapter Chapter five, verse five, we're told one man who was there had been an invalid for 38 years. Think about that, 38 years. And I just turned 48. 38 years is a long time. We're not talking 38 days or even 38 months. 38 years, darn near four decades. Long enough for his condition to become more than just something he was experiencing. This condition, just being an invalid, this was his life. This was his routine. This is his normal. And Jesus sees him. John says Jesus knew he'd already been there a long time. And then Jesus asked him, Do you want to be healed? It's kind of a weird question. The man can't walk. He's lying beside a pool where hopefully people just gather hoping to be healed. He's been suffering from decades. And then Jesus simply asked him, Do you want to get well? Well, of course he does, right? Maybe. But here's what fascinates me: the man never says yes. Listen to listen to his response. Jesus is offering him a chance to heal an affliction that had been that he'd been wrestling with for 40 years nearly. And this is his response. Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. And while I'm going another step down before me. Jesus asked him, Do you want to get well? The man's essentially asking here, he he's saying, Jesus, let me explain to you why I can't do it. Before we're too hard on him, it look, his explanation may have been completely legit. He can't walk. Someone else always got there first. He didn't have anyone helping him. There were real obstacles in his way. But here's what the lame man didn't understand. He was explaining the limitations of the pool to the one who didn't need the pool at all. And I wonder how often we do the exact same thing. You know, we get God. I'd love to change, but you don't understand my childhood. I'd forgive this person, but you don't understand what they did to me. God, I'd pursue that calling you've laid on my heart. But I'm just too old now. I'd fix that. Has my explanation become my identity? There's an enormous difference between saying this happened to me and saying, therefore, this is who I will always be because of what happened to me. What struck me with Theo's wasn't that he struggles, everybody struggles. What struck me was the honesty with which he he talked about this. He he essentially acknowledged that God, I've asked you to change these things while knowing there's still part of me that wants to return to it. If you haven't struggled with something in that arena, I don't think you're being honest with yourself. Every one of us has something that we have prayed to God to help us with, all while knowing maybe there's part of us that doesn't really want to give it up or doesn't really want to make that change. You know, I think instead of hiding that conf contradiction from God, he he openly started bringing that contradiction to God. And I think that's what we all need to do. It that's raw because You know, maybe sometimes the most honest prayer isn't God, change me. Maybe the prayer needs to be, hey, God, help me actually want to change. Because that's different. God, there's part of me that wants freedom. And then there's another part of me that likes what's keeping me captive. Meet me there. That's the prayer we all need. I want to change, but it's going to be hard, Lord. Help me, help me want to change. And then suddenly Jesus' question doesn't sound ridiculous anymore. Do you want to be healed? Maybe that's one of the most penetrating questions he can honestly ask. Here's something I don't think we talk about enough. And this that's the moral of this whole thing. We say we want change, but more often than not, to make that change requires surrendering something familiar. Sometimes even pain becomes familiar. Bitterness becomes familiar. Victimhood is all too familiar these days. The destructive relationship you stay in is familiar. The habit you continue to do is familiar. The excuses become familiar. We have learned how to organize our lives around these things. And there's something frightening about imagining who am I without this thing I've carried for 20 years? Who am I without this thing that I struggle with? That's why it's so hard to write a new story, is because you actually have to surrender the old one. And Jesus doesn't debate the man's explanation. He doesn't discuss the pool. He doesn't help him develop a better strategy for getting into the water. Jesus simply says, get up, take up your bed, and walk. Three commands. Get up, take it up, walk. And then John says, and at once the man was healed, took up his bed and walked. Picture that. For years, the mat had carried him. Now he's carrying the mat. I love the image. The thing that represented his captivity yesterday became the thing that he's carrying away with him today. His history hadn't disappeared, but his relationship to that history had changed completely. Maybe somebody needs that today. You you may always remember what happened. You may carry those scars just like he carried his mat. Your past may always explain parts of your story. But your past never has to own your story. Think about Jesus himself after the resurrection. He still had the scars, the wounds were still visible, but here's the difference. The scars were evidence of what he had overcome, not evidence that the grave still owned him. Somebody needs to write that down. Those scars were there, but they were scars that showed evidence of a beautiful thing, no longer painful. Your scars can become evidence of something that wounded you. without remaining evidence that that something still controls you. That John's not teaching us in chapter five that sick people remain sick because they secretly don't want to get better. That's not the case at all. Absolutely not. Nor does scripture promise that if we simply desire something strongly enough, that that God will immediately remove the physical illness, addiction or trauma or whatever the struggle is. This is a particular conversation between Jesus and this particular man. But the question Jesus asks gives every one of us something worth examining. Am I willing to respond to Christ when he calls me forward? Sometimes we spend years asking for God for a different life while secretly protecting the very things that keep us attached to the old one. I think at the end of it, I think that's why. I think that's why Theo's words really stuck with me, and why I haven't been able to let go of that until I until I put this on an episode. I think I want a new story. And maybe you do too. Maybe you're tired of being the angry one, being the wounded one, being the addicted one, the divorced one, being the failure, the person who got betrayed, the person who screwed everything up, the person who just can't ever get it all together. Maybe it happened. Maybe that is who you were. Maybe some of it was even your fault. Maybe none of it was. But here's the question. Does that chapter get to write the rest of your book? Jesus is standing in front of a man who's essentially been living the same chapter for 38 years. And he asked him a very simple question. Do you want to get healed? So I want to leave you with a question today. Not your spouse, not your children, not your co-workers. Not the person that I know you're really sitting there thinking right now, this person needs to hear this episode. I'm talking to you. What's your mat? What's the thing that you've carried so long that you've started simply believing is part of who you are? What's the sentence you keep repeating? I can't because of this. I'll always be this way because of this. You don't understand because of this. Maybe he's asking, do you want a new story? Maybe your prayer today just needs to be brutally honest. God, part of me wants to change. And part of me apparently doesn't. So, Lord, meet me there too. Change what I can't change. Help me surrender what I keep picking back up. And give me the courage to obey you when you tell me to move. Stop explaining the pool to the one who doesn't need the pool. Listen to Christ. When he tells you to move, get up. Pick up the map and start walking to the next chapter. Maybe it's time for a new story. Thanks for listening. As always, guys, get in your Bible, say your prayers, love one another, and tell the truth.