South Carolina right tackle Zack Bailey will be out for Louisiana Tech

As if South Carolina could afford to absorb any more injuries, it was announced by Will Muchamp at his Tuesday press conference that do-it-all offensive lineman Zack Bailey will miss Saturday’s game against Lousiana Tech with a high ankle sprain.

“Zack Bailey will be out this week,” Muschamp said. “He’s got a high-ankle sprain, so maybe a couple of more weeks. It could be a couple of weeks. I’ll know more Thursday. They put him in a cast, to really limit the swelling, as much as anything.

“They’re going to pull the cast off Thursday morning and reevaluate. He certainly will not play this week and I’ll know more Thursday, as far as that’s concerned.”

Bailey was hurt late in the fourth quarter against Kentucky — two plays before Jake Bentley threw a touchdown pass to OrTre Smith. Take a look at the gif:

Believe it or not Bailey actually played the next play before coming out for the touchdown pass. He was replaced by Malik Young, who was benched against Missouri in favor of Dennis Daley at left tackle.

There’s no certainty Young will be the guy to take Bailey’s place, but that may be the move against Louisiana Tech. The loss is a big one for South Carolina because of Bailey’s versatility and experience on the line. Bailey’s played center, guard and tackle and has started since he was a freshman.

Now down two of their players, South Carolina’s offense has a lot of ground to make up in a season where they’ve been generally underwhelming through three games.