I'm not sure what happened to Cal tight end Craig Stevens on Saturday's opening kickoff at Neyland Stadium. I'm not sure he knows what happened, either.

He was lying on his back when the play ended. Moments later, he got off the ground and wobbled to the sideline with the help of the Cal support staff.

I completely missed the significance of the mishap. It wasn't just an opening play. It was a preview.

The Vols knocked Cal silly Saturday. And the pollsters looked just as silly after UT routed the ninth-ranked Golden Bears 35-18.

If Cal is the ninth-best team in the country, then UT fans can start making reservations for Phoenix. That's where the national championship game will be played Jan. 8.

National championship: Remember that? That's what UT was supposed to have a shot at last year. That's also what ESPN sportscaster Lee Corso predicted Cal would win this year.

You can forget that prediction. And finally, you can forget last year, too.

UT had more highlights in the first three quarters against Cal than it did in all of 2005. The 5-6 nightmare gave way to a dream game.

The Vols did it with big hits and big plays. They hit the Golden Bears so hard, the whole Pac-10 must have felt it.

I know how politically incorrect it is to perpetuate stereotypes. But if you want to believe the Pac-10 is Southern Cal and nine nobodies, you won't get a peep's worth of a protest from me.

Cal had more in common with Kentucky than Southern Cal. In fact, some Neyland Stadium humorist probably wondered aloud in the third quarter: "I thought we played Kentucky in the last game of the year, not the first."

The Vols dismantled the Golden Bears play by play. And they answered every preseason question about themselves along the way.

How would their inexperienced offensive line that struggled in preseason hold up against Cal's defensive front?

I can't speak for every play. But I saw UT's offensive tackle Arron Sears bury Cal preseason All-American defensive tackle Brandon Mebane on one play. David Ligon got the best of him on another play, and former walk-on center Michael Frogg did, too.

Don't take my word for it. Check the numbers. UT rushed for 216 yards against a defensive front that was supposed to be one of the best in the country.

There was just as much uncertainty about UT quarterback Erik Ainge as there was the offensive line. Would he perform like the promising freshman of two years ago or the struggling sophomore of last season?

He gave you a hint on his first pass, a 41-yard completion to Robert Meachem. That told you a couple of things: One, new UT offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe was going after Cal's redshirt freshman cornerback Syd'Quan Thompson, starting in place of injured Tim Mixon; two, there's nothing wrong with Ainge's confidence, which was shaken last season.

Meachem later beat Thompson for touchdown catches in the second and third quarters as UT built a 35-0 lead against their dazed opponent.

Ainge completed 11 of 17 passes for 291 yards and four touchdowns. He hasn't looked that sharp since he rallied the Vols past Florida two years ago as a true freshman.

Obviously, Cutcliffe played a huge role in this. He didn't just help resurrect a young quarterback's career. He revitalized an offense that mixed big plays with down-after-down toughness and efficiency.

Cutcliffe, not Cal's Jeff Tedford, was the offensive guru on this day. Cal spent the spring and preseason mingling the new spread-option offense with its established West Coast offense. One plus one equaled zero for the first three quarters against UT.

Quarterback Nate Longshore looked like a quarterback starting his first college road game, which he did. And tailback Marshawn Lynch looked nothing like a Heisman Trophy candidate, which he has been since he rushed for 194 yards and three touchdowns in a bowl victory over Brigham Young last December.

Longshore completed 11 of 20 passes for only 85 yards. Backup Joe Ayoob was more successful, but his 187 yards passing came after the Golden Bears were five touchdowns behind.

Lynch managed 74 yards on 12 carries, one of which ended with seven Vols on top of him.

Again, at the risk of perpetuating stereotypes: UT played typical SEC defense; Cal played typical Pac-10 defense.

And Cal played nothing like you would expect of a top-10 team.

The Golden Bears looked so overwhelmed, you couldn't help but wonder: Are the Vols that good, or is Cal that bad?

You will have to wait on the answer. Or, as Meachem said, after the rousing victory: "We've got a long way to go."

But they've come a long way, too.