Heading into the 2015 season, Tennessee’s defense did not boast the depth it had in the past. That depth took another blow this week.

Redshirt senior linebacker/defensive lineman, Curt Maggitt has a chipped bone in his hip and will miss significant time. Volunteers coach Butch Jones said at his Wednesday press conference that surgery will not be required, but Maggitt will probably not be available until the final three games of the year.

Granted, it will be a boon for UT to get Maggitt back for the homecoming game against North Texas, a road game at Missouri and the home finale versus Vanderbilt. But the injury to an already-thin defense begs one question: “What now?”

Now being the games the 6-foot-4, 252-pounder will miss against Western Carolina, Florida, Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky and South Carolina. Tennessee has no choice but to make some young players mature quickly or this season will get away like last week’s game to Oklahoma.

Defensive coordinator John Jancek told the Knoxville News Sentinel that the first player up will be freshman Austin Smith, with sophomore Colton Jumper after that.

But Jones mentioned another freshman who will be given a shot at filling the huge void of Maggitt who led the Vols with 11 sacks last season.

“Kyle Phillips will have a great opportunity this week in practice and preparation to get game-ready, so we’ll get him going,” Jones said. “And then, it’ll be pretty much everyone else in that position group.”

Phillips is a true freshman who was playing at Nashville’s Hillsboro High School this time last year and even he has been suffering from nagging injuries during fall camp. Two other freshmen are also getting a hard look from coaches in practice this week: Shy Tuttle and Kahlil McKenzie.

The good news for Tennessee is Jalen Reeves-Maybin is still upright. At least he’s a junior, and leads the team with 30 tackles, five for loss and two sacks. Now besides just flying to the ball, Reeves-Maybin is going to need to fill the leadership role caused by Maggitt’s void.

Team 119 already has been down two defensive starters in Rashaan Gaulden and LaDarrell McNeil. And until Jones can secure another recruiting class or two, the Tennessee defense is perilously thin.

Even before the injuries, it’s not like the Volunteers defense was playing like the ’85 Bears. Tennessee has given up 310 yards per game through the air and 452.5 yards in total offense.

Also in the Oklahoma game, defensive lineman Kendall Vickers and strong safety Todd Kelly, Jr., were banged up and forced from the game. Kelly has Tennessee’s only two interceptions of the season. With redshirt senior defensive back  Max Arnold on the shelf with an injury and defensive tackle Danny O’Brien suspended indefinitely Tennessee may need some volunteers to man its defense.

Of course, Tennessee can do one thing to help its defense — keep averaging 41 points per game on offense. The Vols are gaining a respectable 420 yards per game, but with the Kiddie Corps on defense, that number is going to need to go up. One offensive aspect UT needs to maintain is the lack of turnovers. Tennessee has thrown just one interception and fumbled twice, but recovered them both.

The offense has to step it up to ensure a successful season because of what the team is going to request from the defense. Now UT is going to have to ask youngsters like Phillips, Smith, Jumper, Tuttle and McKenzie to abandon the wading pool and jump off the SEC high dive into the deep end of the league water.

The Volunteers are hoping they can tread that water long enough to learn to swim against the sharks left on the schedule.