T’Sharvan Bell, in many ways, served as a second coming of Josh Bynes this season for the Tigers.

Dreadlocks flying, smile flashing, Bell was a vocal leader to his teammates and always one of the first to congratulate after a big hit.

He was one of the most experienced pieces on a defense that sorely lacked seasoning.

And now, thanks to a knee injury suffered against Georgia, he’s gone for the rest of the year.

“(Bell) means a lot to our defense, not just the way he plays, but the things he provides us off the field,” defensive coordinator Ted Roof said. “I really have a lot of respect for him, and how much he’s grown.

“I’m really proud of him and love him and it’s just sad that that happened.”

A number of replacements have been floated for Bell, who started the season’s first 10 games, including sophomore Ryan White, redshirt freshman Jonathon Mincy and true freshmen Jermaine Whitehead and Robenson Therezie.

Roof said all four will get reps at Bell’s spot this week. And whoever wins out will have to catch on quick.

“Losing T-Bell is a big blow with experience in the secondary, a leader of the whole defense,” sophomore safety Demetruce McNeal said. “When one man goes down, another man has to come up. That’s the big thing in college football. That’s why you come here.”

McNeal’s dealing with his own uncertainty at the safety spot he inhabited the first nine games of the season, before Ryan Smith supplanted him against Georgia.

Both safeties saw extensive time against the Bulldogs, with Smith playing the entire first quarter, then rotating with McNeal the rest of the game.

Head coach Gene Chizik called the two “co-starters” and said there’s a competition at the spot.

McNeal, the third-leading tackler on the team with 59 stops, expects to be the starter from here on out.

“I just know they’re expecting bigger things from me. That’s why they did it,” McNeal said. “From here on out, I just have to play better.”

The problem, McNeal said, comes from trying to do too much.

“I’m always out there at 200 percent,” McNeal said. “Sometimes, it makes me go in the wrong spot. I try to do more things within the defense. I try to do someone else’s job instead of my job. I try to make too many plays.”

The tumult surrounding Auburn’s secondary is coming at a time in which it appears the Tigers are at their most vulnerable.

Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray picked apart the Auburn back line Saturday more thoroughly than any opposing passer since Clemson’s Tajh Boyd on Sept. 17, racking up 224 yards and four touchdowns on 14-of-18 passing and posting a passer efficiency rating of 255.6.

And Murray only threw two passes in the second half.

The Bulldogs inflicted the most damage on underthrown, back-shoulder balls that their receivers adjusted to in the air and caught, an adjustment the Auburn secondary could not make.

Malcolm Mitchell torched Chris Davis for a 44-yard gain in this manner on a third-and-15 in the first quarter.

Tavarres King did the same thing to Bell for a 35-yard gain in the second.

Mitchell came up with a sequel in 5 minutes before halftime, adjusting back past a slipped Davis and outrunning Neiko Thorpe for a 25-yard touchdown.

“I think that we were in position,” Roof said. “Some of those balls were underthrown balls, which is the toughest ball to defend when you’re in phase. Your hip’s on his hip and you’re running where you need to defend the home-run ball.

“The underthrown balls are the tough ones and you just need to look for the ball and make a play.”

While Auburn is a respectable 51st nationally in pass yards against per game (215.9), it has fallen to 75th in yards per attempt (7.3) and 87th in opponent passer rating (138.3).

Seems like the perfect time for a veteran like Bell to step in and start straightening things out.

But he’ll have to do all of it from the sidelines.

“There’s no doubt that he will (keep helping the team) because that’s who he is,” Roof said. “There’s no ‘I’ in him at all. He’ll do whatever he thinks he can in his power to help us.”