Georgia's offense always strives for perfection.

In the season opener against Oregon, the Bulldogs came very close to that goal. In the contests since, however, there have been up and down moments as Georgia chases its ever-elusive standard.

There were some rough moments on Saturday against Auburn too, especially in the first half. But the Bulldogs then loosened up in the second half, finding their rhythm on their way to a 42-10 victory.

"You've got to value every possession," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. "We didn't click. When we click, we roll."

The first 30 minutes looked to be an extension of Georgia's struggles from last week's game against Missouri.

The Bulldogs produced 14 points and 143 total yards. Stetson Bennett had one of the worst halves of his career, completing 7-of-13 passes for just 25 yards. He also missed tight end Brock Bowers on what would have been a long touchdown pass down the sideline.

"I think we were pressing a little bit in the first half. We all want so bad to be the best," Bennett said. "We were pressing. We weren’t having fun."

But there were still some positive signs early on. Georgia's much-maligned run game produced 118 yards on 16 carries. Both of the touchdowns came on the ground as well.

"It was much better at the line of scrimmage," Smart said. "We played more physical at the line of scrimmage, and I thought we wore the other team down."

Still, there was the matter of the weighty expectations the Bulldogs have. Center Sedrick Van Pran said Georgia puts "unspoken pressure" on itself by constantly expecting perfection.

But sometimes, Van Pran said, the players just have to simplify things and go play football. After a fumble on the first possession, that's exactly what the Bulldogs did in the second half.

Georgia scored touchdowns on four of its next five drives after the fumble. Bennett looked much sharper in the second half, completing 15-of-19 passes for 183 yards.

"Towards the end, we started just having fun," Bennett said. "Just throwing and catching. It was, beat your man, I’ll throw you the ball, and you catch it, either run some more or fall down."

The run game continued to churn as well. Georgia ended the day with 292 yards on 39 carries, the largest output of the season.

"I think we did a good job, just staying consistent in the run game," Van Pran said. "Offensively, I think the stats show it was pretty good. Just super proud of our guys, man, staying consistent. Didn’t let too much get to them and just played."

Things still aren't perfect. Bennett had another deep ball miss in the second half. Georgia had a couple of costly penalties that hurt drives. Receiver Ladd McConkey wants the team to start games the way it has closed them over the past two weeks.

But even in light of the improvements that still must be made, Saturday's win showed progress for Smart's offense.

"I’m not apologizing for winning 42-10," Smart said. "What I’m saying is we’ve got to get better. The monster that’s created, you’ve got to live up to this expectation that you’ve got to score every drive, that was created by going out against Oregon and having a great opening. That doesn’t control how we look at things."