That Tennessee's defense is paying a price for its inexperience is a tale of two six-packs.

Constantin Ritzmann, Mondre Dickerson, Robert Peace, Gibril Wilson, Rashad Baker, Jabari Greer.

That's the six-pack of starters Tennessee defensive coordinator John Chavis knew he had to replace going into the year.

Antwan Stewart, Kevin Simon, J.T. Mapu, Greg Jones, Marvin Mitchell, James Banks.

That's the six-pack of guys Chavis would like to have at his disposal Saturday at No. 3 Georgia (4-0, 2-0 SEC) but doesn't, for reasons ranging from injuries to academics to Mormon missions.

"It's been a little bit more of a challenge this year,'' Chavis said, "but that's the thing you deal with in college football.

"Two years ago we lost a bunch of starters and I was not as concerned because we had guys behind them that had played. They came in and did a great job for us and we ended up fourth or fifth in the nation.''

Headed into a 3:30 p.m. (TV: WVLT) kickoff at Sanford Stadium, the Vols (3-1, 1-1) are No. 67 nationally in total defense.

They rank 49th against the run, 92nd against the pass and 101st in pass-efficiency defense.

The bottom line stat: They rank 59th in scoring defense.

The Vols will start only three defensive players who started against the Bulldogs last year -- Kevin Burnett, Jason Allen and Parys Haralson. And Haralson might not be 100 percent because a tweaked knee.

Chavis, in his 10th year as UT's coordinator, doesn't deal in excuses. He looks for signs of growth.

Even in a 34-10 loss last week to Auburn, he saw some.

"The thing I see is we've got talent,'' he said. "But we've got to move along quicker than we have.

"We played the run much better. We played some pretty good zone (pass) defense. That was our best first-down defense last week.''

Third-down defense? That was another story.

Giving up big plays in the passing game is directly linked to inexperience. The Vols' top three cornerbacks are freshmen Jonathan Heffney and Roshaun Fellows and an ex-receiver, Jonathan Wade.

"Fellows' technique is getting much better,'' said Chavis. "But the biggest thing is he feels comfortable playing now.

"We don't all understand what it's like going out there in front of 107,000 when you're a young guy.''

Fellows and his fellows could be fairly solid by November. Unfortunately for the Vols, their three toughest offensive challenges -- Florida, Auburn and Georgia -- came on the front half of the schedule.

With so many green players on the field, Chavis has had to cut back the playbook. Thus, fewer disguises and less pressure on the quarterback.

"We want to be a pressure team,'' he said, "but I'm not going to be hard-headed and put our kids in situations they're not handling well.''

Jason Mitchell, a first-year starter who has moved from strongside linebacker to the middle since Simon's injury, admitted he's still thinking when he should be reacting.

"I'm second-guessing myself,'' he said. "Quicker recognition, that's what I need.''

Mitchell's not the only one. It should come over time.

"The more experience you have,'' said linebacker Omar Gaither, another new starter, "the better you play.

"As the year goes along, the weeks and the days, you get better.''

Whether that will be much consolation Saturday remains to be seen.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.