As if South Carolina didn’t have enough quarterback concerns already.

The Gamecocks now face the daunting prospect of heading to Athens to play SEC rival Georgia with an inexperienced quarterback who will be making his first career start.

Redshirt junior Perry Orth came on in relief of injured Connor Mitch during last weekend’s 26-22 loss to visiting Kentucky and will again be under center this coming Saturday evening when the Gamecocks face a decidedly stiffer Bulldogs defense.

Orth, a 6-foot-1, 203-pound former walk-on, was bagging groceries at Publix this summer to pay for school, according to the website seccountry.com. He completed 13 of 20 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown against the Wildcats, but committed an egregious error with a costly interception late in the contest.

Coach Steve Spurrier has publicly expressed his confidence in Orth, but is clearly hedging his bets by also asserting that true freshman dual-threat quarterback Lorenzo Nunez may play as well.

“I think that Perry really threw some nice balls [on Saturday night],” Spurrier said during Sunday’s teleconference with reporters. “Lorenzo Nunez could play some, we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Not exactly the strongest vote of confidence in Orth, and the timing couldn’t be worse for the Gamecocks (1-1), who are looking to avoid a dubious 0-2 hole in SEC play.

Georgia is loaded with aggressive playmakers on defense with the likes of future pro linebackers Jordan Jenkins and Leonard Floyd, and defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt is considered among the nation’s best at disguising his many coverages.

It’s going to be a lot to ask of Orth or Nunez to forcibly digest while playing in front of a frenzied crowd of nearly 90,000 screaming people between the hedges for the first time.

Mitch is expected to be out as long as six weeks with separated right shoulder. Orth or whomever gets the final nod from Spurrier will have to produce more at the quarterback position than South Carolina has received so far.

Gamecocks quarterbacks have combined to complete just under 54 percent of their passes after two games, with just two touchdown passes between them.

Mitch had completed less than 45 percent (13 of 29) of his attempts prior to his injury while averaging a meager 82.5 yards passing per game.

That small amount of production might have been enough to beat North Carolina and stay close with Kentucky, but more efficiency at the quarterback position will be imperative if South Carolina is to somehow stun the seventh-ranked Dawgs and keep itself relevant in the SEC East.