South Carolina freshman QB Ryan Hilinski has had a solid start to his career, though he dealt with a brief injury situation when he missed some practice time ahead of the Missouri game.

Coming out of the bye week, Hilinski is progressing well, coach Will Muschamp said, as the Gamecocks prepare to play at Georgia this week. Hilinski has completed 61 percent of his passes overall for 912 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions. He was 13-for-30 against Missouri passing for 166 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He missed a practice that week with a reported sore elbow.

“I think he’s done real well,” Muschamp said at his regular weekly press conference. “Obviously, he would’ve loved to have played better at Missouri, but I think he’s handled the situation and the circumstances extremely well. He’s progressed well, he’s practiced well. He’s taken all the reps, and again, I think the more turns and reps you get, the better you’re going to improve and he certainly is a guy that’s worked extremely hard to put himself in this position to play well, and we expect for him to play well.”

Hilinski is fifth in the SEC in passing yards per game, and 10th in completion percentage and touchdowns. Outside of Alabama, this may be his stiffest test from a defense, though he passed for 324 yards against the Crimson Tide.

His second road SEC start will be at noon on Saturday in Athens on ESPN.