Athens — Blair Walsh said it was sort of “cool,” glancing at the Sanford Stadium scoreboard late Saturday and seeing his four field goals as the margin of victory.

But as much as Georgia’s football team appreciates the reliable freshman kicker, a downside to the 26-14 win over Tennessee was that the Bulldogs so often had to settle for field goals rather than touchdowns.

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Georgia receiver Mohamed Massaquoi says Georgia’s struggles inside the red zone are proof that the Dogs ‘haven’t arrived’ yet.

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“We left some points out on the field,” coach Mark Richt said.

Georgia got only two touchdowns out of seven drives inside the Tennessee 20-yard line, with the other five red-zone opportunities ending in field goals (three) and turnovers (two). Another Walsh field goal came from slightly outside the red zone.

Georgia had been hyping its red-zone offensive statistics this season, noting before Saturday’s game that it had scored a touchdown or field goal on 94 percent of its trips inside the opponents’ 20. But if you look only at touchdowns — and if you discount the early-season games against overmatched opponents Georgia Southern and Central Michigan — the numbers offer no bragging rights.

The Bulldogs scored touchdowns on all eight of their red-zone opportunities against Georgia Southern and Central Michigan. In the four games since, however, the Dogs have gotten touchdowns from less than half of their red-zone opportunities — seven of 16, including Saturday’s two of seven.

“We had a chance to really open that [Tennessee] game up, and we didn’t do it,” Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “We didn’t execute like we need to, and I’m sure we’ll adjust and try to get better.”

Said receiver Mohamed Massaquoi: “It just let us know we haven’t arrived yet and that we still have some mistakes to correct.”

Against Tennessee, the wasted opportunities kept the game closer than it should have been, given Georgia’s overall domination. But with the next three games against ranked opponents with a combined record of 14-3 — Vanderbilt, LSU and Florida — there likely will be no such margin of error.

“We’ve got to work toward getting touchdowns,” Stafford said.

The main culprits Saturday, in chronological order: one dropped touchdown pass, one officiating mix-up and two ugly interceptions.

The Bulldogs settled for the first field goal one play after a wide-open and normally sure-handed A.J. Green dropped a third-down pass in the end zone. They settled for the second two plays after not being awarded what should have been an automatic first down at the Tennessee 3 following a defensive holding call against the Vols on an eligible receiver.

Richt said he should have run onto the field and vigorously raised the issue of the first down at the time. This week, he said, “I’ll read my [rule]book a little bit better.”

Then there were the two interceptions of Stafford passes that ended drives on which Georgia had reached the Vols’ 13- and 6-yard lines — the Bulldogs’ first and second red-zone turnovers of the season.

“Really, sometimes if you don’t score [a touchdown in the red zone], it’s disappointing, but if you’re able to get a field goal, there’s nothing wrong with getting points,” Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said. “The turnovers are the big thing that’s disappointing.”