ATHENS, Ga. --- Let's stipulate for the record that there is nothing bad about a Georgia victory over Tennessee.

You can't state that enough. Beating Tennessee -- and handily -- is always a good thing. There are no bad wins in the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division.

So, after Georgia clearly displayed its superiority over one of its border rivals on Saturday afternoon with a 26-14 win, why did it not seem better? Or bigger?

Why did a game in which the Bulldogs held the ball for more than 42 minutes seem so incomplete?

Why did a third-year quarterback's first 300-yard passing effort seem so ordinary?

Why did the offensive line's breakout performance seem so somber?

Why did the coaching staff's management seem a tad off?

Why, for heaven's sake, was Tennessee within a touchdown heading into the fourth quarter?

Maybe this is just being way too nit-picky, but it's very hard to declare Georgia healed and back on track after such an unconvincingly convincing victory. You want to say that the Bulldogs have moved on from a dismal loss to Alabama, but even their best performance of the season left you wanting more.

"We definitely have a ways to go," running back Knowshon Moreno said. "We have to keep working to get better every week."

Make no mistake, Georgia was much better than Tennessee. For the first time all season, Georgia looked like a team worthy of its preseason hype.

But if you look at the stat sheet, you can't help but wonder why the Bulldogs weren't better. They outgained the Vols by 249 yards. They outrushed them 148-1. They possessed the ball nearly 25 minutes longer.

Eight times, the Bulldogs drove inside the Volunteers' 25 and only came away with two touchdowns. Four times, they settled for field goals. Twice, they turned it over.

"We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times," Moreno said.

Once, star freshman receiver A.J. Green dropped a perfect pass all alone in the end zone.

"I was too wide open," Green said.

Twice, Matthew Stafford threw interceptions that could only have been caught by Vols' defenders; each led directly to Tennessee's only touchdowns.

"I felt like we kind of gave it to them," Stafford said.

The red-zone shortcomings allowed this game to remain in doubt long after every one of the 92,000 fans in attendance had determined which team was profoundly better than the other.

For all its dominance, Georgia led only 13-7 and was buried on its own 3-yard line with under 2 minutes in the first half. There was unease in the stands, if not the huddle.

"I think everybody knew what time it was," said receiver Mohamed Massaquoi of that back-against-the-wall moment. "We're motivated guys, and it was time to step up."

Georgia stepped up with a 97-yard drive capped by Massaquoi's 9-yard reception shortly after getting his bell rung by a Tennessee defender. Up 20-7 at halftime all seemed right.

Then, with the Bulldogs driving early the second half, it looked again like the game would soon be over. But Stafford lobbed a poor pass right to safety Eric Berry, whose 57-yard return sparked another Volunteer score to make it 20-14.

Was this really happening? Could Georgia give this one away?

"Two turnovers to zero and you can end up losing a lot of games," said Georgia coach Mark Richt of the lapses that added up to a 28-point swing. "All I can say is I'm thankful we didn't lose the game because of it."

Richt can also be thankful that his own error didn't prove more costly. When Tennessee committed a defensive holding against an eligible receiver in the end zone in the second quarter, Richt didn't challenge the officials when they didn't give the Bulldogs an automatic first down. So, instead of first-and-goal at the 3, they threw incomplete on third-and-goal and settled for another field goal.

None of these things proved devastating, because Tennessee is hardly the menace it typically is in the SEC East. The Vols got pushed around by Georgia's offensive and defensive fronts in much the same way the Bulldogs got pushed around two weeks ago by Alabama. Richt thought his lines "grew up" on Saturday, as evidenced by a 17-play fourth-quarter drive that ate up almost 11 minutes (before yet another field goal).

But even that was tempered by the probable injury loss for the season of a second starting left tackle, Vince Vance.

"We've got some issues," Richt said.

Aside from the injuries, the issues are nothing the Bulldogs shouldn't be able to iron out. All the components were in place on Saturday for a catalyst win; they just need some fine tuning to be considered mid-season form.

Richt wouldn't let the bad outweigh the good.

"I don't think we're going to let the red zone get us in the tank too bad," he said.

Georgia's players had plenty of reason to smile despite the imperfect nature of Saturday's victory.

"You can't take any victory for granted," Massaquoi said. "They're hard to come by, so any victory you cherish."

It was indeed a big win, but it could have been so much bigger. And in college football's BCS beauty contest, that could make all the difference.