After the season opener, the Gamecocks were left searching for answers at the receiver position outside of Shi Smith.

A week later and a lot of those questions are still lingering with the Gamecocks 0-2 and a road trip to Vanderbilt on the horizon.

South Carolina can’t afford a loss, and this week will be crucial in determining which receivers will get a chance to impact next week’s game.

“We’ll determine that moving forward. Shi’s been the most productive player we have,” Will Muschamp said. “Xavier (Legette’s) been productive at times and we have to get better past that. We’ll determine that this week in practice.”

Also see: More advanced stats from Saturday's loss to Florida

Outside of a handful of plays this season, Smith has been sensational. The senior is leading the SEC with 22 receptions and currently ranks fifth in the league with 225 yards.

He hauled in 12 more catches this week, going for 85 yards and a score, but didn’t get much help.

South Carolina’s next two leading receivers were running backs—Kevin Harris and Deshaun Fenwick—and last week’s second-leading receiver, Legette, caught a 22-yard pass on the first drive of the game and didn’t haul in another reception the rest of the game.

There were a few bright spots with Rico Powers making his first career catches, registering two catches for 19 yards.

Dakereon Joyner, Luke Doty, Ger-Cari Caldwell and Josh Vann—who started Saturday—are guys the Gamecocks need to step up and help Smith and Legette.

They’ll evaluate production in practice and early in Saturday’s game and decide on a pecking order for that game.

Also see: What went right, what went wrong in the Swamp

“We try to settle into a rotation of the guys who are playing well,” Muschamp said. “That’s how we approach each game: who’s practiced the best, which we feel like understands the game plan and whom we feel like can be a productive player for us. Who can help us win the game?”

The Gamecock receivers and tight ends have struggled even just catching the ball to start the year with drops defining the game Saturday in the Swamp.

Pro Football Focus charted four drops from the 38-24 loss but Muschamp said on the coach’s counter the Gamecocks had seven drops.

That can’t continue to happen if South Carolina wants to dig out of this 0-2 hole.

“We can’t catch it for them. Obviously our guys work on the JUGS a lot,” Muschamp said. “We need to work on it more. We try to put them in contested situations where there’s a defender in front and they have to locate the ball.