I heard it all offseason. So did you. You know what I’m talking about.

South Carolina beating Georgia in Week 2 was the trendiest offseason upset pick in the SEC. It was an easy game to look ahead to considering both were obvious choices to be 1-2 in the SEC East.

After all, this was a South Carolina team that won 9 games last year and returned more offensive production than anyone in the SEC. And that new offense! Surely the Bryan McClendon-Dan Werner combination was the only thing that was holding the Gamecocks back from beating Georgia and taking control of the SEC East.

Yeah, about that.

That take lasted about as long as an ice cube on a Columbia blacktop Saturday afternoon. Somewhere in between that Deandre Baker interception on the opening drive and fourth-string running back Brian Herrien becoming the fifth Georgia player to score a touchdown, reality should have sunk in.

South Carolina was in fact, not on Georgia’s level. Sixty minutes of football trounced an entire offseason of that trendy take.

Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Saturday was a reminder that the SEC East is boring. Like, really boring.

Georgia is already at the dominant level that Alabama has been at throughout the Nick Saban era. That’s not to say the Dawgs are already a dynasty. But consider this. Georgia outscored the SEC East 247-72 last year. That was an average score of 41-12.

Saturday’s 41-17 final was basically a repeat of that.

Maybe there was some draw to the “South Carolina is going to upset Georgia” prediction because the Gamecocks were the only East team who didn’t lose to the division champs by at least 4 scores last year. And remember … 9 wins plus experience returning equals automatic next step up (people forget that South Carolina was 6-1 in 1-score games and could have easily been a 7-win team).

But let’s stop beating a dead horse about last year. There were a few instances that showed just why this matchup was so lopsided this year.

South Carolina was so aware of how one-sided it was going to be in the trenches Jake Bentley threw the ball 31 (!) times in the first half. The Gamecocks’ only touchdown of the first half was — you guessed it — trickery. Deebo Samuel had a nice little halfback pass to Bryan Edwards to get South Carolina fans feeling confident.

Bentley’s first touchdown pass came on his 47th pass of the day (it was a dime, too). That’s what happens when you can’t run the ball.

Georgia had fourth-string running backs coming in and getting chunk yards. Meanwhile, South Carolina’s starting tailback, Rico Dowdle, bobbled the first pass thrown his way and Georgia returned it for a touchdown. That’s not a knock on Dowdle, but it served as a reminder of just how one-sided Georgia’s backfield advantage was.

If that doesn’t convince you how dominant the Dawgs were compared to South Carolina, this should drive it home.

Georgia was up 20-10 early in the second half when its best offensive lineman, Andrew Thomas, went down. No worries. All the Dawgs had to do was call on 5-star freshman Cade Mays to play left tackle. They then rattled off 3 straight touchdown drives to put the game away.

That’s the beauty of signing the No. 1 recruiting class in America. And while that group isn’t exactly the heart and soul of Georgia yet, there were still a whole bunch of key contributors from a team that was a play away from winning a national title.

There was still, Jake Fromm, who completed his final 9 passes after a slow start. There was still D’Andre Swift, who racked up 64 rushing yards and a touchdown on 12 touches. There was still Mecole Hardman, who looked like the fastest guy on the field when he blew past the entire South Carolina defense for a 42-yard touchdown.

And defensively, Georgia looks just fine with Kirby Smart at the controls. Do the Dawgs have a player like Roquan Smith yet? Not necessarily, but this unit is still loaded with All-America candidates.

One of them, Baker, was the subject of some mid-week bulletin board material. Deebo Samuel, who had just 45 yards from scrimmage on Saturday, was asked about going up against a fellow preseason All-American like Baker. After responding, “who?” Samuel gave the Georgia cornerback all the ammo he needed.

“Oh, I really ain’t watched much of him,” Samuel said.

He probably should have. Maybe everyone else sipping the South Carolina Kool Aid should have as well.

Better yet, they can just flip on the film of Saturday’s beatdown and see plenty of Baker. They can also see plenty of a Georgia team that once again looked like it was heads and shoulders above the Gamecocks and anyone else in the East.

That narrative isn’t trendy.