If No. 5 Georgia wants to upset No. 1 Texas Saturday night (7:30 p.m., ABC) in Austin, the Bulldogs know they’ll need to accomplish a feat they haven’t done all season - play a complete game.

Nobody knows this better than head coach Kirby Smart.

“Simply stated, we have not played our best game, we have not put a complete game together and that's what every coach's goal is, which is to play your best game moving forward,” Smart said on Monday. “That's what's going to be needed to go on the road at Texas and play. We have to play better and that's the only goal I'm thinking about right now is how we play this week.”

At least that message seems to have been received.

Despite rolling up 605 yards of offense in the 41-31 win over Mississippi State, running back Trevor Etienne knows much needs to improve.

“We definitely want to get better. Each week," Etienne said. “But no, we haven’t played a great game of football offensively yet. That’s something we’ve got to get better at.”

For example:

“Eliminating turnovers, executing; starting faster, attacking early. Small things, really,” Etienne said.

Defensively, there’s a ton of work to do, especially considering the Longhorns will be the most dynamic offense Georgia has faced to date.

Led by quarterback Quinn Evers and an explosive group of wide receivers, Texas is averaging .495.7 yards and 43.2 points per game.

Conversely, the Bulldogs come in allowing an uncharacteristically high 17.2 points per contest.

“We need to have a great week of practice. I think that's where it starts, and that's where it's been,” safety Dan Jackson said. “That's where it's been since I've been here. Starting today, that's what we need to have.”

One of Texas’ backup defensive linemen is someone Smart is very familiar with – Bill Norton.

“What a great kid, man. This guy worked his tail off here,” Smart said. “Maybe it was the Ohio State game, and he had to go in and take over and play a role with that. He was always a positive guy, enjoyed practice, and was fun to be around.”

The Memphis native originally signed with the Bulldogs and was a reserve defensive lineman and special teams performer on Georgia’s 2022 national championship team before transferring to Arizona.

Following a year with the Wildcats, Norton moved on to Texas where he’s played as a backup in all six games with the Longhorns.

Safety Dan Jackson chuckled that family and friends haven’t been shy about sending the recent video showing Shannon Sharpe’s complimentary comments about him on television two weeks ago.

“Yes, sir, I've seen that a lot from my family and friends,” Jackson said. “You know, being in the position that I am, I don't feel like I spend a whole lot of time on social media.”

Speaking on his “Night Cap” podcast, Sharpe said "Hey, that safety for Georgia, number 17, he can play. He can play. No, he can play. He's going to play on Sundays. Cause he's got that kind of ability. He's got skills."

Nevertheless, Jackson appreciated the kind words.

“I try to limit myself, but they sent me that,” he said. “But it's like every other thing, you can't listen to that too much. You just gotta go to work.”

With Branson Robinson out for a couple of weeks with an MCL injury, freshman Nate Frazier will begin playing an expanded role.

Position mate Trevor Etienne is confident he will be fine.

“I expect a huge things, you know? Etienne said. “I just tell him, ‘Brother, don't let the moment get too big,’ you know? I tell him ‘You're prepared for this, you're capable of doing great things. So, just go out there and be yourself, have fun, play football.’”

Frazier and Etienne wound up splitting the carries last week against Mississippi State. Etienne ran 11 times for 34 yards and a touchdown, while Frazier carried the football 10 times for 43 yards.

On the season Frazier has rushed 37 times for 201 yards, an average of 5.2 yards per carry.

Mykel Williams (ankle) has played in two straight games since returning from the ankle injury he suffered in the opener against Clemson.

But how much closer is he to being 100 percent?

“You don't see much out of him until the game I think he had six or eight snaps against Auburn and ten or eleven snaps last game against Mississippi State. So, he looked better to me during the week this past week,” Smart said. What we were able to do during the Auburn game with him was to get him better for Mississippi State and now we've got another week under our belt, and we're hoping that he's healthy, full, and ready to go.

"But again, I don't know that until we get out there, but I don't get a great evaluation during the week because he's only been able to do some of the work.”

... Smart on what impresses him about Texas’ defense: “Size, speed. Two best front guys. Every defense starts with train wreckers, big guys, and physical guys at the point of attack that are hard to move. They got 'em. They've got guys on the edge that are elite rushers. They got an elite player out of the portal. They went and got DB from Clemson who's playing really good,” Smart said. “They patched up some holes they had, and they're the complete package on defense. They're really consistent. They don't give up explosives. They're really good in the red area. They’re hard to run the ball on. The consistency you watch them play with it reminds me of some of our best teams here. I'm like, 'Man, they're good on D. They're good on O. They’re good on special teams, and they're playing at a high level.”

... Smart on facing Steve Sarkisian: “They're balanced. They do a great job of putting you in conflict in terms of run-pass, play-action, turn your back to the ball. They can take shots. They got really good wideouts to take shots. I think they lost a couple backs maybe a preseason camp, and I thought, ‘Well, they're not going to have it.' Well, these two backs they have are really good. I'm watching them against Mississippi State ... I was really impressed,” Smart said. “They're big physical up front on defense, and on offense, they're built around the offensive and defensive lines. Then when you look at his record, and you say, ‘Look at his record while he's been there every year.’ It's improved. Well, the trenches improved every year, and they're for real in the trenches. They've got really good players, and they're built like an SEC team. It's hard to prepare for him because he knows what he's doing offensively. He's really different in terms of what he makes you adjust to.”

... Smart on what impresses him about Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers: “His awareness, like he there's nothing that he sees he hasn't seen, as a quarterback you get confidence by playing the position. You're not going to have some guy that just doesn't play and go out there and play great. He's played a lot of football; he's a really good athlete and he's been in Sarkisian’s system,” Smart said. “I think the comparisons between him and Carson (Beck) are so similar in terms of the kind of quarterbacks they are, they're both better athletes than people think, they both have awareness of coverage and they're really good in the pocket. This guy's taking off and hurting people running when he needs to, but he also can stand in the pocket and make all the throws and change the protection.”