Three and out: What we learned from Kentucky

What did we learn from South Carolina's 17-10 loss at Kentucky? Here are three items of note from the game.

Offense is further away than we thought - South Carolina just isn't a team that can inflict damage on itself (running into the kicker, block in the back on punt return for TD, pass interference on interception) and still win games. I think we all knew that the offense was going to have its share of struggles, but with the lack of production against a very bad Kentucky defense, it was apparent that the offense is further away from being good than we thought. It's easy to see why that is -- freshman quarterback, struggling offensive line, revolving door at wide receiver -- but it doesn't change the fact that the Gamecocks just haven't been able to get going on offense. This unit will surely get better as the season progresses, but right now fans are going to have to be ready for low-scoring games if Carolina is going to win.

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Defense is being put in position to succeed - If there's any doubt about the South Carolina staff's ability to put together a successful defense, look no further than the fact that the Gamecocks are allowing just 17.3 points per game. That's not due to the group being dominant by any stretch, but they play very hard and seemed to be in the right spot more often than not.

Muschamp and defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson would love to be aggressive and play man coverage on the outside, but with the lack of depth in the Carolina secondary, the staff has adjusted and played way more off coverage. While it's not always pretty - Carolina has given up chunks of yardage at times - it's worked in keeping teams out of the end zone as the Gamecocks have avoided giving up the big play (no passes over 40 yards allowed this season and only one over 30 yards).

There's still a lot of room for improvement as an explosive offense like Texas A&M's is still going to be very difficult to slow, but so far Mushamp and staff have put a Gamecocks defense that struggled the last two seasons in a position to succeed.

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Gamecocks need to get healthy - Maybe this one needs to be delivered by the guy from the Captain Obvious commercial. This team wasn't one in the first place that appeared to be able to absorb injuries and keep playing well and that's been confirmed in the first four weeks of the season. Deebo Samuel, Randrecous Davis, Donell Stanley, Blake Camper and Chaz Elder are all missing pieces that the Gamecocks could have used on the field against Kentucky and could have made a big difference in the game.

ALSO SEE: Snap count - How many snaps did each player take Saturday?