Kentucky is looking for answers following a disappointing 28-13 loss at Mississippi State and another road game at South Carolina on tap.

Sawyer Smith suffered a shoulder injury in Starkville, and coach Mark Stoops said Smith could not have thrown if there was a Sunday practice. Smith was 15-for-41 passing against Mississippi State for 232 yards and an interception. Stoops added that he’s pleased with Walker Wood’s progress, but the team needs to bring other guys along as well.

That likely means Lynn Bowden at QB, or Amani Gilmore, who “has a ways to go.”

“Walker is an extremely hard worker, knows what to do with the football,” Stoops said. “Has worked hard to come back off his surgeries to compete and play at the highest level he can. We’re confident in Walker.”

Smith’s injury is the third this season to Kentucky quarterbacks.

Whoever starts this week in Columbia, the entire offense will need a lift as Stoops noted. He said the drive chart from Mississippi State, “kind of makes you sick. We were moving the ball,’ but not finishing,” he said. “What really hurt us was dropped passes and dropped touchdowns. I want to say there were three (dropped touchdowns).”

Stoops dismissed Kentucky’s five-game winning streak against South Carolina and called the Gamecocks the best 1-3 team in the country.