Defensive coordinator John Jancek was proud of the way his defense played on Saturday night.

That made the loss to Oklahoma so much more difficult.

Tennessee surrendered a 17-point lead to Sooners in a gut-wrenching 31-24 loss last Saturday at Neyland Stadium, but the Vols’ defense can hardly be blamed. Tennessee held Oklahoma to three points through three quarters and limited the Sooners to 348 total yards.

“We were on point,” Jancek said after practice on Tuesday in the Ray and Lucy digital studio. “We had a great rhythm. We were all over those guys.”

Tennessee did allow drives of 80 and 60 yards in the fourth quarter that enabled Oklahoma to tie the game late and force overtime.

But Jancek was still proud of his defense’s effort in the fourth quarter, noting that three Tennessee penalties — two holding calls and a pass interference on a seemingly uncatchable pass — allowed Oklahoma to prolong drives.

“I am proud of the way they played in the fourth quarter,” Jancek said. “We didn’t make some plays, but we had some calls that really, really hurt us at critical times.”

Jancek liked the adjustments his defense made and its ability to force three-and-outs, as the Vols forced three-and-out on the Sooners’ first three second-half possessions.

He also complimented Tennessee’s secondary, saying Oklahoma struggled to pass against the Vols.

The Vols also succeeded in keeping plays in front of them, allowing only one twenty-yard play.

“They played well,” said Jancek, who briefly paused, before adding: “It stinks you don’t get the W, you know?

“We can’t keep talking about that, we really are on to Western Carolina with all of our goals and everything that we still want to accomplish intact and ahead of us. So we need to focus on the tasks at hand.”

Replacing Curt: The Vols lost more than just the game against Oklahoma.

They also lost one of their best defenders.

Tennessee coach Butch Jones said in his Monday presser that defensive end Curt Maggitt suffered a hip injury on a punt return and will be out for an extended period of time.

Maggitt was voted on the coaches’ preseason All-SEC first team and already had three tackles and two tackles-for-a-loss against Oklahoma before he left in the first half.

Jancek said he expects Kyle Phillips and Dimarya Mixon to get reps at Maggitt’s vacant left side defensive end position.

It will be harder replacing Maggitt’s leadership.

“You all know about Curt, the whole state (knows), the whole US knows about Curt,” Tennessee wide receiver Josh Smith said. “It’s detrimental to us as a leader and as a football player, but, I mean, someone is just going to have to step up in his place.

“We need a guy to step up and be Curt.”

So far, the consensus seems to be that Tennessee needs to adopt a leadership-by-committee approach in lieu of Maggitt’s absence.

“It will really just be a combination of all us,” linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin said. “We just got to replace his leadership out there on the field. When guys are down, Curt gets us going. So it’s basically just everyone stepping up and being more vocal and knowing that he is not there so we have to pick it up.

Reeves-Maybin steps up: Reeves-Maybin was everywhere on the field Saturday night.

The Clarksville, Tennessee native recorded 21 tackles, forced a fumble, and earned a sack against Oklahoma.

“I felt like I was making a lot of plays,” Reeves-Maybin said. “Everything that I was predicting kinda just happened. I played with a lot better effort last week and it just helped me get to the ball and make a couple plays.

Jancek said Reeves-Maybin is more comfortable with the defense than he was last year, and that contributed to the strong performance on Saturday.

Offensive coordinator Mike Debord spent all fall camp watching his offense practice against Reeves-Maybin, so he knows Reeves-Maybin is a special player.

“He is a great player and I am glad he is on our team,” Debord said. “He is just a great team player. He is a great defensive player. He is hard to block. He is very athletic, he is tough and he has got that nose to get to the football.

McNeil Returns: Jones said on Monday that safety LaDarrell McNeil, who is returning from what Jones described as a “neck instability issue”, has been cleared to play on Saturday against Western Carolina (TV: ESPNU, 7 p.m.).

Jancek said on Tuesday the coaching staff hasn’t decided whether McNeil will start on Saturday, though. That decision probably won’t come until moments before game time.

But he did confirm that he will rotate McNeil and Todd Kelly Jr. at safety.

“It will be nice to rotate some guys, wouldn’t it?” Jancek said.