Via a Josh Ward tweet, Lane Kiffin has said that middle linebacker Nick Reveiz "blew his knee out" and is indeed out for the rest of the season. The injury occurred with 2:05 left in the third quarter of last night's game against Ohio.
Vol fans feared the worst when they saw Reveiz emotional on the sideline with a towel covering his head. Later, cameras cut to Reveiz and his parents, who had made their way to the sideline to talk to and pray with him. Eric Berry urges fans to pray for him (and Tim Tebow -- more on that later) as well.
As the announcers made clear several times last night, you hate to see something like this especially because Reveiz is a former walk on who had worked extremely hard to get himself into a leadership position on the team. Defensive end Chris Walker:
That's a huge blow for us because Nick is not only one of the big leaders on our team, he brings a lot to our team physically, mentally, and emotionally. Just him being out on the field is a big plus for us, the way he plays, his attitude, his leadership is something that's great for our defense and great for our team.
The Vols will miss Reveiz's savvy and knowledge as much as his leadership, too, considering the role the middle linebacker plays in Monte Kiffin's scheme. Reveiz played that role almost to perfection, and he will be sorely missed.