ATHENS, Ga. — For the second game in a row, Mississippi State refused to wilt and gave a top-five opponent a much tougher time than most people expected.

Moral victories are not actual victories, however, and the Bulldogs once again left the field without the latter.

Carson Beck passed for a career-high 459 yards and three touchdowns, Arian Smith had five receptions for 134 yards and a TD, and No. 5 Georgia beat Mississippi State 41-31 on Saturday.

“Again, our guys responded. Man, they did. They answered the challenge, they answered the bell,” Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby said. “I hate that we’re sitting here disappointed, frustrated that we’re not on the right side of it, but our guys are continuing to fight like heck for each other and I’m proud of them for that.”

Mississippi State (1-5, 0-3 Southeastern Conference) held its own as a huge underdog for the second game in a row, after losing 35-13 to No. 1 Texas in its previous outing on Sept. 28.

The Bulldogs lost their fifth game in a row. They are back home in Starkville for the next three, against Texas A&M, Arkansas and Massachusetts.

“We’re putting together drives, putting together plays. Receivers are making plays. Running backs are running hard, so it’s one of those things where you just build up on and do better, go back to practice, and then get back to what we know how to do,” said MSU wide receiver Kelly Akharaiyi, who caught three passes for 72 yards and two touchdowns.

Mississippi State took an early lead on Kyle Ferrie’s 47-yard field goal on its second possession, and was still within a field goal at 13-10 until Georgia started to gain some separation in the second quarter.

Beck threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Dillon Bell and a 1-yarder to Lawson Luckie before halftime, then a 42-yard strike to Smith on the other side of the break to put the home Bulldogs ahead 34-10 a little more than a minute into the third quarter.

Mississippi State clawed back to within 10 points, at 34-24, on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Michael Van Buren to Davon Booth with 2:40 left in the third quarter, but Georgia (5-1, 3-1) answered again to keep MSU at arm’s length.

Trevor Etienne’s 1-yard TD run capped a 16-play, 81-yard drive that consumed 7 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter. The score restored Georgia’s lead to 41-24 and effectively sealed the game.

Van Buren added one more touchdown pass, a 35-yarder to Akharaiyi with 1:47 to go, to get Mississippi State back to 41-31. The Bulldogs were called for an offside penalty on the ensuing onside kick, though, and Georgia ran out the clock.

“Just know that no team will just lay down. We’re going to have to earn the win. They’re not going to just lay down and give us a win or give us a touchdown,” Smith said. “So, I feel like the defense knows that we’re going to have their back And I feel like we know that they’re going to have our back ready when we need them.”

Van Buren, a true freshman whose first two college starts came on the road at Texas and Georgia, was 20-of-37 passing for 306 yards and three touchdowns.

Kevin Coleman Jr. caught eight passes for 103 yards, and Johnnie Daniels had a 19-yard rushing TD for Mississippi State.

“He settled in there late in the first half and then played really well in the second half. That’s without watching the tape, but early on I think it’s a young kid in an unbelievable environment where we have an opportunity to do some things,” Lebby said of Van Buren’s performance. “Don’t hate on him. I’ve got to continue to coach him better, put him in positions to succeed, but proud of him for getting himself out of that hole and then answering the right way to be able to go play the way we needed him to play.”