There were warnings about what happened Saturday; not to that extreme level, but there were warnings

          No doubt Toomer's Corner was a glorious place to be Saturday night as pounds and pounds of TP flew through the air.

          And no doubt there was one constant thought among the thousands there:

          "Where the hell has that been the last three months/years?"

          The level of stunned was pretty close between Auburn and Georgia fans. Very, very few saw a rout coming, except if Auburn came out goofy and cute, which was a possibility. An Auburn win would be no shock: the Tigers had played the tougher schedule to that point, and they were still playing to make the Iron Bowl for the division title.

          But that?

          Among the more absurd offerings, from fans and media struggling for sharp wits, were those with any mention of Mark Richt and Miami.

          "Uhhuh uhhuh, sure do miss Richt. Daaaang, wish we wouldn'ta run Richt off. Maaaan, look at Miami, so much better 'n us." The media shots came from throughout the state, and across the country, which sure doesn't make media folks look very bright.

          Pretty weak. Knee-jerk. Very "I'm 21 and noooobody has thought of this one-liner or pun" and being very wrong. Made my head hurt with every one, because it was just, well, stupid.

          Apples and oranges and mangos, not to lessen how solidly Miami hammered Notre Dame or that the Hurricanes - not long ago a dumpster fire losing 59-0 (!) at home to No. 6 Clemson - are where they are.

          Can't even imagine the brain freezes on message boards.

          But Georgia folks shouldn't pine for Richt, whose departure came at the right time for both, and Saturday's festivities don't change that. There was just so much ease with quick unfunnyness. But yes, folks had to grouse some.

          No doubt there had been chugging of Kirby Kool-Aid. People love Kool-Aid, which actually can leave a hangover. We’ll ponder that big picture in a few days.

          But Saturday was on him and his offensive staff, for reasons that have been groused about in this spot for weeks.

          How specifically Georgia got beat wasn't necessarily a surprise. Here, anyway. The level to which Georgia got beat – unaided by any in-game adjustments, it seems - dang sure was extremely unexpected.

          Outcoached on a Saturday happens to everybody. Outprepared during the week happens to everybody. Doesn't always mean one coaches badly or was underprepared. Thus, the reminder to please, people, give credit to the other side every so often. Tis good for the soul, whether you care about the soul or not. The other guy can do better than your guy.

          So - sorry - back to Saturday.

          The old Bear Bryant line about coaches losing games and players winning games has always been, of course, pure crap.

          Did we all listen to our parents 100 percent of the time? Nope.

          Did Georgia coach those 15-yard penalties? Does any coach teach false starts and offsides? No.

          Did Georgia coach how to miss tackles or be out of position? How to not see the blitzer, how to get out of the blitzer's way? How to drop a pass or run a wrong or incomplete route?

          Players have to bail out coaches and coaches have to bail out players, and neither did that Saturday.

          Where this falls on the coaches was on offense.

It was as if Georgia never expected anybody to have success against the run, and the fan base mirrored that misguidedness with all sorts of  “Hey, we don’t need to pass, we got these great running backs and the offensive line is playing pretty good.”

There were times before Saturday when the run game was slow to get going. The Bulldogs passed their way to a win in a shootout against Missouri when the defense was quite mortal. There was grinding out a win over South Carolina, which was a few plays a few times from making it closer than two-score game.

People forget. An SEC defense may as a unit be so-so more often than not, but it has SEC athletes, and that can make a difference. If some good athletes play a little over their heads ...

          But "Hey, hey, we don't need to pass the ball," remained a common - and misguided, if not arrogant - mantra.

          The mantra here for a month has been simple: You don't get better at something by not doing it. Avoiding reps doesn't sharpen you up or prepare you, especially when you can to this on a Saturday.

          From Oct. 14: "For the third week in a row, Georgia's offensive game plan was a head-scratcher.

          “We know the Bulldogs can run the ball. We know they have two of the top senior running backs in the country.

          “We know they have superb depth at that position. We know that the offensive line is in some transition.

          “We know that offensive linemen are better at, and prefer, run blocking over pass blocking.

          “We know that Jake Fromm is a true freshman.

          “But you don't get better at something by not doing something, and it’s hard to figure out how Georgia is getting better at the passing game by not passing against defenses on Saturday, defenses that serve as a good chance to get better without getting threatened.

          “And it's not just about Fromm, who yes, has had some bad passes. Tom Brady does, too.

          “It's about the receivers, some of whom are still in the learning-to-catch-the-ball stage. The Bulldogs have more drops than they should.

          “It's about the offensive line, which has already shown it needs to improve on pass blocking, as do the vast majority of offensive lines.

          “It's about the offense having the sharpness to step up when the defense has an off day, not just an off quarter. ...

          "There are those who think nobody on the college planet can stop Nick Chubb and Sony Michel - and maybe D’Andre Swift - and, of course, they're wrong. ...

          "People whine about Fromm – stunningly - but it's awful hard to get better when you aren't allowed to get into a groove, to see what you can and can't do on Saturday."

          Often, sports aren't very complicated, and this situation wasn't. The thought was repeated here pretty much every week, leading up to Saturday’s:

          “And the offensive line has to be proficient at pass blocking, which is very different on Saturday than Sunday through Friday. Opponents have nine sacks this season, which is impressive except when noting the frequency of Georgia passes. Jake Fromm has made superb passes under pressure and some subpar passes under pressure. …

          “Yes yes yes yes, Georgia doesn't have to pass to beat lesser teams.

          “But good grief awmighty, you don't get better at something by not doing it. …

          "But for the umpteenth time, this isn't as much about having a freshman quarterback as it is having a new quarterback. And new receivers in spots. And tweaks to the offensive line.

           “It's about timing. It's about backs pass-blocking better than Devonta Freeman in the final game of last season. It's about spreading out the defense so that run game can do even more damage without punishing the line and backs."
          OK, indeed, that's enough. Too much redundancy.

          Alas, it was going to happen, and did. Never expected it to that level.

          Had Georgia been better prepared to pass-block against a quality and aggressive defense, odds are Saturday would have been more competitive. Then again, who foresaw Georgia collapsing on both sides in one game?

          Not sure why Georgia abandoned what worked on the first drive. Not sure why Fromm didn’t keep the ball more, either by his own decision or by playcall design. Not sure why Georgia didn’t move the pocket a little more – Fromm isn’t exactly Matt Ryan, he won’t fall down on sprintouts - once it was evident, which was early, that Auburn was stellar between the hashes and tackles.

          Not sure why Swift didn’t’ seem to be a big part of the game plan, even if Auburn focused on him. Not sure what the tight ends have done to those involved in the game plan to seemingly not be involved in the game plan.

          Even at 30-10, I thought Georgia’s offense could regroup, but when was Georgia’s defense going to regroup? All those fundamentals took the day off.

          Plus Auburn called and executed its best game on offense and defense in awhile. The Tigers were a joy to watch.

          Again, though, Georgia looked unprepared for a superb defense, a victim of a level of ego or stubbornness rather than the beneficiary of confidence from experience, the experience of forcing the O-line to pass block for an extended period of time on a Saturday – and there were so many chances the past month – and get better at it, even against lesser defenses than Auburn.

          Allllll that said, the sun came up, blocked by clouds or not. Georgia will fall to about No. 8 in the playoff poll, and we’ll prepare for an absolute monster – in hype and potential – Iron Bowl.

          Georgia Tech will be amped to eliminate Georgia from the playoff race - and the Jackets are capable - so the Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate Bowl will have more juice than usual. And a loss there will do just that for Georgia, which would then enter the SECCG with no momentum and perhaps get stomped.

          The good news for Georgia fans is they are unlikely to see their team look that way for four quarters the rest of the season. But it's also doubtful the Bulldogs will look as good as they have, either.