On an opening weekend that featured possibly the biggest upset in college football history, the Tennessee Volunteers failed to produce an upset of their own in a 45-31 loss to the California Golden Bears Saturday night.

Both teams came out very aggressive in the first quarter and combined to put up 28 points. On the Vols first series Erik Ainge was hit hard as he was releasing the ball coughing up a fumble. The Golden Bears' Worrell Williams scooped the ball up and returned it 44 yards for the score.

The Vols came right back and scored on their next drive. Mixing up their play calling and using a newly implemented no-huddle offense, the Vols kept the Cal defense off balance. Arian Foster caught a 12 yard touchdown pass from Ainge as Foster received a short pass, dodged one defender and stiff armed another on his way to the end zone.

Neither team punted in the first quarter, but the first punt of the game saw the Vols make a crucial mistake. Tennessee elected not to kick away from Cal's Desean Jackson, and Jackson took the kick back 76 yards for the score.

Cal went into halftime with a 31-21 lead and extended the lead to 17 pointes early in the second half. The Vols would pull within seven early in the fourth quarter, but Justin Forsett's touchdown run with just over nine minutes to play put Cal back up by two scores. The Cal defense then kept the Vols from mustering any offense over the final minutes to solidify the victory.

Both offenses provided fireworks during the game as the two teams combined for over 850 yards of total offense. The Golden Bears racked up 230 yards rushing, led by Forsett's 156 yards, and quarterback Nate Longshore also had 241 yards passing. Ainge's broken right pinkie had no effect on his performance as the senior finished the game with 271 yards passing and three touchdowns, two of which went to senior tight end Chris Brown.

The Vols received a scare with just over four minutes to play as defensive end Xavier Mitchell laid motionless on the field for several minutes before being carried off on a stretcher. The senior could be seen waving his left arm while being carted off the field. Further information on Mitchell's injury was not available.