ATHENS — Daylen Everette couldn't offer an explanation for what happened to Georgia in the second half. The Georgia defender was speechless when asked to explain what happened as Georgia saw a once-confident lead shrink to a rather uncomfortable lead.

It was a revealing moment. Although Georgia won 41-31, the game was far more unpleasant than it should have been.

“I don’t think we’ve played a full game of football yet. And that’s really frustrating,” safety Malaki Starks said.

Georgia finished the game with 605 yards of offense. Arian Smith and Carson Beck both had their best days of running. KJ Bolden landed his first career interception.

And yet none of these positive notes paint an accurate picture of what happened on Saturday.

That was clear from Kirby Smart's angry tone as he addressed reporters afterward.

“It's like they didn't beat us. We gave them two games,” Smart said. “Playing down our sideline and then the touchdown. And then the other ride was the third departure. There are two thirds of descents on this one ride. I mean, we're off the field and we have, I don't want to say undisciplined penalties, but they're just bad timing.”

Georgia was a much better team than Mississippi State on Saturday. In the third quarter, the Georgia Bulldogs led 34-10. You could understand why some fans started making their way towards the exits.

But then a pass interference penalty by Chris Cole and a face mask by Chaz Chambliss extended Mississippi State's drive, resulting in a touchdown. Both penalties came on third downs. In the second quarter, Damon Wilson took a rough penalty that turned Smart into an aggressive drill sergeant straight out of a Vietnam War movie.

In the fourth quarter, Smart desperately tried to draw attention to defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann. But Smart ended up pushing Mississippi State quarterback Michael Van Buren in the process. Smart was unaware after the game that he had even pushed Van Buren.

Similar to the push, Georgia will want to put the Mississippi State game behind them. On Saturday the better team won.

But Georgia needs to make tangible progress before next week's game against No. 1 Texas if it wants to be the better, winning team.

“Of course it’s always fun to play on the road in a big environment,” said Beck. “I mean, that’s why you play in the SEC. That's why you come to Georgia, to play big games. You know, we're going to watch tonight's movie, recover, figure out the little things that we maybe did wrong, the things that we did right, and try to move on and be ready for next week. “

Georgia's offense provided its own moments of frustration on Saturday. The Bulldogs had to settle for an early field goal and Beck was intercepted on Georgia's first drive of the game.

And with a chance to extend the lead back to 24 points in the third quarter, he threw an interception in the red zone on first down. That's something you'd expect from rookie Van Buren, who's starting his second career. Not someone like Beck, who celebrated his 20th career start on Saturday.

“Things are going to happen, the ball is going to get hit in the air, guys are going to play defense,” Beck said. “I mean, we’re playing against an SEC defense, you know? Guys will make plays. They're talented, athletic, so it is what it is. Just keep playing.”

Georgia did it and got a win. The Bulldogs put together a 16-play, 81-yard drive that lasted 7:26 after halftime. Even this ride was symbolic of the evening for Georgia.

Running back Trevor Etienne appeared to come up short on fourth-and-goal, which would have given Mississippi State the ball back by 10 points.

But Etienne kept pushing his legs and the Georgia offensive line carried him into the end zone. This increased the score to 41-24 and Georgia secured another win.

Even though this team still has four great quarters of football to put together.

“Our offense got into a rhythm and did a really good job with pass pros,” Smart said. “Carson was in rhythm, which was great for getting the guys going. But we need to continue to get better at thwarting some things.”

Kirby Smart recaps Georgia's football win over Mississippi State