Kirby Smart: Georgia 'Better Get a Lot Better' After Narrow Win vs. South Carolina

The Georgia Bulldogs may be 3-0 but that doesn't mean that head coach Kirby Smart is satisfied.

Georgia was able to defeat South Carolina 24-14 Saturday but it was a bit too close for comfort for the two-time defending National Champions. The Gamecocks led 14-3 at halftime before the Bulldogs were able to take over, and Smart emphasized that improvement was needed.

Smart's comments indicate that he liked his team's ability to stare adversity in the face and excel, but he was not a big fan of the team being in that position in the first place.

South Carolina was the first relative tests for Georgia as they were coming off of victories against UT Martin and Ball State. Still, the Bulldogs smoked the Gamecocks in 2021 and 2022 and Smart was likely looking for more of the same this season.

Quarterback Carson Beck was 27-35 for 269 yards and running back Daijun Edwards had 20 carries for 118 yards and a touchdown. The Georgia defense was able to pick off Gamecocks quarterback Spencer Rattler twice and that was a determining factor in swinging the Bulldogs to victory.

Smart did offer praise to Beck in his post game interview, saying that the signal-caller's resiliency was huge in the winning effort.

"If you could just win one at a time, you've got a shot," Smart said. "If you let the last one bother you, you're going to be in trouble, and this guy (Carson Beck) didn't do that today. He stood in there, played well …"

Still, Georgia will need to play cleaner going forward, with games against Auburn, Ole Miss and Tennessee inching closer.