South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said Sunday afternoon that quarterback Connor Mitch will miss four to six weeks after injuring his shoulder and hip in Saturday's loss to Kentucky.

Mitch separated his shoulder while diving along the sideline to recover a fumbled pitch in the second quarter. Immediately after the play, he ran to the sideline with his right arm hanging limply at his side.

South Carolina quarterback Connor Mitch will be out four to six weeks with shoulder and hip ailments. Jim Dedmon/USA TODAY Sports

"His problem was a bruise that he suffered actually against North Carolina and he got hit again," Spurrier said. "So he's in the hospital right now, [will] probably spend a couple days getting some IV and trying to get rid of sort of an infection in his hip area. So Connor is definitely out for maybe four to six weeks."

Mitch was 4-for-7 for 43 yards and had run for the Gamecocks' only touchdown before he suffered the injury. Spurrier said both ailments had been lingering during the week of preparation for South Carolina's SEC opener.

"[The hip] was bothering him, I guess right after the shoulder," Spurrier said. "He got treatment all week and felt like he was ready to go. I think he just got hit again on that deep bruise, and it is an ugly bruise, that probably aggravated it last night also."

The Gamecocks (1-1, 0-1 SEC) rallied behind junior backup Perry Orth in the second half before falling 26-22 to Kentucky. Spurrier said Orth, a former walk-on who was awarded a scholarship during preseason camp, will be the starter in this week's game at No. 7 Georgia (2-0, 1-0).

Orth was 13-for-20 for 179 yards and a touchdown against Kentucky. The Gamecocks had rallied from a 24-7 halftime deficit and were driving for a potential go-ahead score when Kentucky's Chris Westry intercepted an Orth pass at the Wildcats' 26 with 4:32 to play.

"Perry really threw some nice balls last night," Spurrier said. "Obviously his one bad one was the interception there at the end on first down. But we've got confidence in Perry. We're one play away from coming back and beating those guys, but we didn't do it."

Freshman Lorenzo Nunez also played against the Wildcats, rushing twice for 40 yards. Spurrier said the dual-threat quarterback could also play more against Georgia, but was noncommittal about whether that might happen.

"It remains to be seen," Spurrier said. "He did play a little bit. Looking back now, we could have played him some more. But we actually moved the ball. We did good the second half. We had one interception, I think, and we had to kick field goals, but we actually moved the ball with Perry in there pretty well the second half. But Lorenzo could play some."