KNOXVILLE -- Either Nick Reveiz's kneecap hadn't been put back in place, or it was simply swollen badly enough to give that illusion.

Regardless, less than an hour after going down with a season-ending knee injury Saturday night, the University of Tennessee co-captain hobbled around on crutches, checking on his understudies.

"I guess you could say he crutched his way over," freshman Nigel Mitchell-Thornton said.

Mitchell-Thornton wasn't trying to make light of his idol's injury. He was trying to wrap his brain around Reveiz's selflessness.

UT's primary backup, redshirt freshman Herman Lathers, also went down in the third quarter after concussing himself on a kickoff return tackle, Mitchell-Thornton went from redshirt candidate to starter in mere minutes.

And Reveiz was one of the first people to check on him, despite spending the past few minutes sobbing uncontrollably from pain and frustration over his most recent unforeseen setback.

"Nick is the guy I've always looked up to," Mitchell-Thornton said. "Ever since I came in here in January, he was always the guy I went to for help. Anytime I didn't understand anything, he was always the first guy I went to. He's like my big brother. He always takes care of me.

"Even when I was out there (Saturday), and he was hurt, he came over to me and asked me, 'Are you OK?' And he'd just gotten hurt."

Junior defensive end Gerald Williams seconded junior cornerback Brent Vinson's assertion that Reveiz was "kind of the heartbeat or our whole defense."

Williams said he noticed Reveiz hobbling around in the fourth quarter, encouraging the defense to "finish" the Bobcats.

"Didn't surprise me one bit," Williams said. "That's the kind of guy Nick is. He's a leader. He cares about all of us.

"He cares about the team more than he does about himself. He was named captain for a reason."

Reveiz's story has been one full of obstacles. The son of former UT All-America kicker Fuad Reveiz and nephew of former Volunteers' kicker Carlos Reveiz, Nick is nearly the same height. Don't be fooled by the 5-foot-10 listing in the media guide. He's closer to 5-8 or 5-9.

The UT legacy always dreamed of playing for the Vols, but his size prevented him from garnering a scholarship offer despite gaudy statistics at suburban Knoxville's Farragut High School. Smaller colleges coveted him, but he enrolled at UT, eventually earned a scholarship and slowly moved up the depth chart. He held off Lathers for the starting position with an excellent spring practice and preseason camp. He mastered Monte Kiffin's defense, lined up the Vols before every snap and still found time to rank third on the team in tackles.

"It hurts, because Nick's a guy that's worked so hard for everything," senior weakside linebacker Rico McCoy said. "That's that story of his life, man. You know Nick. He's worked so hard and earned everything he's gotten, and for something like that to happen to him is just ... you've got to feel for the guy. Even if you don't know him, you've got to feel for a guy like that. I know him, and I know what kind of a guy and what kind of a player he is.

"It's still dancing around in my head. It hurts to lose Nick like that."

The pain doesn't stop at the personal level, either. Reveiz's absence seemed clear several times down the stretch. Mitchell-Thornton performed well enough to register five tackles, but he was beaten a few times on passing plays in big spots.

"I wouldn't I say was nervous, but I was kind of beside myself in the moment," Mitchell-Thornton said. "I was like, 'Wow, I'm really calling the defense for a big SEC team.' Everybody knows Tennessee."

Mitchell-Thornton didn't seem completely out of place, though, which he and teammates took as a positive sign for the future -- especially if Lathers doesn't get cleared for this week's big SEC home game against Auburn.

"I know this might sound unbelievable, but every week, I always act like I'm the starting linebacker," Mitchell-Thornton said. "I always try to go in and watch extra tape. Coaches just keep on telling us, 'Play as if you're the starter, because if somebody goes down, then you're the guy to fill into their place.' I always have this worst-case scenario in my mind, like, 'Do I know my stuff if Nick got hurt, or Herman got hurt?' I always think about that going into a game, even if I'm the fourth linebacker.

"I always have to be ready ... and this is why."

Another reason is UT head coach Lane Kiffin's refusal to accept any excuses for poor performances. The defense finished Saturday's game with just five opening-day starters, and with four true freshman on the field, and Lane Kiffin still called some of its mishaps "completely unacceptable."

"I don't care who's out there," he said. "If you're out there, you need to get it done. It doesn't matter how old you are or how much you've played before. If you're out there, get it done. Make plays. Help your team win games."

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