ATHENS — Eric Zeier likes the way Carson Beck is throwing the football, even if the current Georgia quarterback might have gotten a little too comfortable on Saturday.

Beck was 36-o-48 passing for 459 yards and three touchdowns, also throwing two interceptions in the 41-31 win over Mississippi State.

Zeier, who was the SEC’s all-time leading passer when he finished his UGA career, expertly broke the game down on the Georgia Radio Network broadcast.

“The first (Beck) interception was a tipped ball, that just happens, but he tried to force some,” Zeier said during the post-game show. “He was throwing the ball well, and sometimes when you are throwing the ball well, you get bulletproof thinking you can put it in certain windows instead of going through progressions.

“He threw the ball well outside of a couple bad decisions, but a really, really good night.”

No doubt, Beck’s 36 completions and 459 yards were career highs for him.

“Mike Bobo called a really good football game,” Zeier said, praising UGA’s offensive coordinator, who was 5 of 11 on third-down conversions and 2 of 2 on fourth-down calls. “The problems are on the defensive side of the football right now.”

UGA head coach Kirby Smart said as much in his post-game interviews, too.

“We have to find some guys who are willing to compete and fight,” Smart said in his Georgia Radio Network locker room interview.

“At the end of the day, we’re not going to play perfect, we’re going to give up plays the way we play defense on the outside,” Smart said. “But you have to compete for the ball, (and) you’ve hot to try to out-execute people and get the ball out and we had some guys not do that today.”

Zeier, a four-year starter for the Bulldogs from 1991-1994 who passed for what was then an SEC-record 11,153 yards along with 67 touchdowns, was ot impressed how the UGA secondary played against Mississippi State.

“The amount of time we have defensive backs running down the field never getting their heads turned toward the football should be concerning,” Zeier observed, noting how Mississippi State freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren settled in after starting the game 3-of-10 passing, finishing the game 20-of-37 passing for 306 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.

“As we look to next week, you are going up against one of the best quarterbacks in the country,” Zeier said of the 7:30 p.m. game at Texas against Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers.

“It’s hard to win championships when you’re giving up 31 points to a freshman quarterback.”

Zeier sounded confident Georgia can get things going in what has become a most unpredictable SEC season.

“A little tougher fight for the Dawgs than many expected — we saw South Carolina take Alabama to the final seconds in Tuscaloosa earlier today,” Zeier said, pointing out how the Tide barely hung on for a 27-25 win.

“Any time you’re playing in this league you better be ready to go; the Dawgs have a mammoth day waiting for them next week.”