JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Offensive guard Tate Ratledge gently helped guide Georgia football quarterback Carson Beck off the field in the second quarter with under 12 minutes to go.

Kriby Smart was there to give him words of encouragement. He wrapped his arms around the senior’s neck as he spoke after Beck threw yet another interception.

Beck, one of the preseason Heisman Trophy frontrunners, is still in a funk.

He’s still throwing too many picks.

Three more on Saturday to give him eight in the last three games and 11 on the season – all in the last 5 games.

“In the future, I have to do better,” Beck said.

Beck spoke after No. 2 Georgia won by two touchdowns against rival Florida.

The 34-20 score doesn’t tell the story of a Georgia offense that was held to two first-half field goals, trailed 13-6 after two quarters and scored 28 points in the second half.

Beck won what should be his last game back in his hometown of Jacksonville, going 2-0 against the Gators. He said playing back in the city where he grew up doesn’t add pressure.

“All these people around, y’all, the media, the fans, everybody, y’all see there’s pressure on me,” Beck said. “For me, I just go play. I just have fun. I’m here to win. At the end of the day, it’s a bottom-line business. I don’t care what happens. Obviously, I want to go throw a perfect game, 30 for 30, four (touchdowns). That’s what I was thinking about walking into the stadium. I was the man. I’m walking back into my hometown in Jacksonville. Let’s go.”

Beck’s pass efficiency rating Saturday was 128.9, which was better than the season-low 77.3 in the win at Texas in his last game.

“Some of the throws he makes, guys, are big-time elite throws,” Smart said. “He just has a couple times where he threw the ball in the middle late. You can't do that. You can't turn the ball over and be a good football team. He knows that, and I don't think it's a matter of decision-making. I just think sometimes he presses there."

Beck went 25 of 40 for 309 yards with two touchdowns, but those three interceptions are glaring.

“Some of those are on Carson, some of them aren't, and we've got to do a good job helping him because when he's needed to play well and we needed him to step up once again tonight, backed up, third down and — I don't know what it was, third-and-5 maybe — he made plays,” Smart said. “He did a great job."

Beck said he gets frustrated and mad on the sidelines after walking off the field following a pick.

“For me, I just have to do better, whether that’s in the preparation or when I get into the game, just the in-game decision-making,” Beck said. “There’s times where it’s OK to throw it away when it’s not there.”

Here’s what Beck said on his three interceptions on back-to-back possessions in the second quarter and another early in the third.

“I made two bad decisions,” Beck said. “I tried to make plays, scrambled out and didn’t see the guy and then we don’t get a check-down. Probably should go to a check down on the second one and don’t see that guy. … The third one, I get hit when I’m throwing. I understand it’s part of the game. Obviously it’s part of the game, and it’s really difficult to move on from that, but you know that’s what we do. That’s what I do. No matter what, I’m going to keep coming every single play.”

Added Smart: "The two plays that he would want back were late, scramble, throw-it-up play. And to be honest with you, he hasn't done that much, you know? He's always been smart. He'll take off and run or he'll just throw it away and live for another day. I thought he pressed on those two plays, but he also made some really good plays, and we've got to do a good job helping him around with the run game.”

Georgia is down to four regular-season games to go to try get Beck and his interception issues solved.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football QB Carson Beck on his continuing interception issues