Doty 'feels great,' expected to start Saturday against Kentucky

Quarterback Luke Doty "feels great" following his season debut against Georgia this past weekend and will start this week against Kentucky, assuming he still feels good then, head coach Shane Beamer said Tuesday during his press conference.

Doty, who missed the first two games of the season due to a preseason midfoot sprain, entered Saturday's game when Zeb Noland's hand was stepped on and completed 13 of 26 passes for 144 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

"Luke feels great,” Beamer said. "What a warrior that kid is, to come out and do what he did with very limited practice, he is a warrior. Bounced right back and was at practice Sunday night. Did everything today."

Coming off a knockdown, physical football game against Georgia, South Carolina goes into Week 4 of its season in "really good shape" on the injury front as a team other than linebacker Sherrod Greene's serious ankle injury he suffered in Athens.

Noland is still dealing with the lingering issues from the cut on his finger but should be ready to play against Kentucky.

"We expect him to be ready to go on Saturday," Beamer said. "He didn't throw today; he's still got some stitches in his finger from where he got stepped on that they'll get out here in the next day or so and once those come out, he'll be able to throw, so fully expect him to be available."

The Gamecocks received a scare when cornerback Cam Smith's foot got stepped on Saturday, the same foot that he injured in the preseason, but after missing the second half of the game and Sunday's practice, he is good to go.

"Cam practiced today and was 100 percent," Beamer said. "No issues there; he's great."

Reserve wide receiver Xavier Legette did not play on Saturday and is questionable for this week.

"He was in a little traffic incident last week and has some scrapes, nothing major but just trying to get that cleaned up a little bit where he's able to go out there and play," Beamer said.

Beamer said on Sunday that Greene had already undergone surgery to repair his ankle injury.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with him," Beamer said Tuesday. "What a great kid. He was playing really, really well for us and hate it for him. I know he's had some injuries in the past and hate that this one crept up but we're still optimistic that we could potentially get him back before the end of the season, but obviously he'll be out this week. Saw him in the training room this morning and he was in good spirits. A lot of the players and coaches were down there spending time with him trying to pick his spirits up."

Linebacker Damani Staley is now listed as the starter at middle linebacker in his place.

The Gamecocks and Kentucky square off this Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Williams-Brice Stadium on ESPN2.

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