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Cal looks to avoid repeat of 2006 opener vs. Tennessee

Sep 1, 2007 - 12:10 PM No. 15 Tennessee at No. 12 California 8:00 pm EDT

BERKELEY, California (Ticker) -- Nate Longshore and No. 12 California certainly do not wish to repeat their season-opening performance of a year ago against Tennessee.

The Golden Bears look to avenge a blowout defeat when they host the 15th-ranked Volunteers in a marquee matchup on Saturday.

Last year, California was a narrow favorite to go into Neyland Stadium and defeat Tennessee, which was coming off a 5-6 season.

But the Golden Bears instead were blown out, falling behind 35-0 in the third quarter before scoring 18 meaningless points against the Volunteer reserves.

Longshore, who missed the 2005 season with a broken leg, was limited to 85 yards in the defeat. But he rebounded to pass for 3,021 yards and 24 touchdowns for the Bears, who finished 10-3, including 7-2 in the Pac-10 Conference.

The quarterback has a superstar receiver in fellow junior DeSean Jackson, who had 59 catches for 1,060 and nine touchdowns last year and had four punt-return TDs of at least 65 yards.

The Vols, meanwhile, went 9-4 overall, 5-3 in the Southeastern Conference. They narrowly missed an 8-0 start, losing to eventual national champion Florida at home by one point in their third contest. Tennessee has a high-quality starting quarterback in senior Erik Ainge, but he lost his starting receivers - Robert Meachem and Jayson Swain.

The Volunteer defensive line is quite experienced, with three of the four starters entering their senior seasons. The star of the bunch is end Xavier Mitchell, who had 13 quarterback hurries and four sacks last season.

Tennessee has won its last 12 season openers, but it has not started a season on the road since 1998, when it beat Syracuse en route to the national title.