Tennessee was determined to be physical against California. The plan worked to perfection.

Several Vols said the Golden Bears seemed defeated even before UT secured the 35-18 win on Saturday.

"Our tempo and intensity of playing this game — being inspired by last year — kind of took them by surprise," UT senior offensive guard David Ligon said. "We hit them in the mouth a couple of times and they kind of jumped back."

Obviously. UT jumped to a 35-0 lead in the third quarter. Cal didn't respond until it was to late.

"It was key guys out there dropping their heads," UT receiver Robert Meachem said, "so we knew it was time to go to work."

Preseason All-American candidate Brandon Mebane symbolized Cal's struggles. The defensive tackle only made three tackles He also recovered a fumble.

"We kind of made him quit a little bit," Ligon said.

Ligon, however, didn't think Mebane's pedestrian stat line had anything to do with his ability.

"He's everything that I thought," Ligon said. "I probably thought he'd have a little more initial pop coming off the ball. He's just so strong."

Cal quarterback Nate Longshore also seemed uncomfortable early in his first college start. The sophomore completed 11 of 20 passes with an interception. He was sacked two times before being replaced by senior Joe Ayoob.

"He was definitely getting frustrated," UT junior linebacker Ryan Karl said. "He started throwing some errant balls, threw interceptions.

"After that, he got a little down on himself, I think, and he started making more bad decisions."

Trooper's Target: UT made much of its offensive living on cornerback Syd'Quan Thompson. The redshirt freshman struggled against UT's receivers, in particular Meachem.

Cal gave up 298 yards passing and four touchdowns through the air. Earlier this week, UT receivers coach Trooper Taylor said he would keep a close eye on Tim Mixon's replacement. Mixon, Cal's star cornerback, suffered a season-ending knee injury in preseason camp.

"He was young," Taylor said of Thompson. "We saw some things on tape where he likes to squat on routes. We wanted to take advantage of that. We were able to do that."

Cal replaced Thompson in the second half.

"They didn't make it (the change) as soon as I thought they would," Taylor said.

Taylor's Guys: Taylor had said he plans to rotate more receivers into future games in order to ensure that UT's starters are fresh late in the game.

That wasn't the case against Cal. UT's starters played most of the game until it was out of reach for the Golden Bears. For Taylor, the temptation was too great.

"If you're a racecar driver," Taylor said, "you want to drive your fastest car."

Motivated: UT wasn't lacking for motivation against Cal. The Golden Bears served it up.

"One of their defensive backs was talking about 'Make sure you watch ESPN' because he was going to put on a show," Taylor said. "He put on the wrong show."

Several UT players also said they were motivated when Cal's players were seen standing on the midfield 'T' before the game.

Overrated: Several fans were heard chanting "overrated" during the end of the game. Cal was ranked ninth in the country.

"They aren't overrated," Karl said. "They might have thought they were going to come in here and whup up on us.

"When you have that mentality, you're going to underestimate a team. We came out here and proved a point."

Injury Report: Senior wide receiver Bret Smith was sidelined with a head injury. Senior defensive tackle Matt McGlothlin also suffered a lower back injury. Sophomore linebacker Jerod Mayo was wearing a protective boot on his left lower leg. He had surgery on the ailing ankle during the offseason.

Visitors: Several former Vols were in attendance for Saturday's game, including Peyton Manning and Jesse Mahelona.

"It was a win to put them back on the map," Mahelona said.

Recruiting: Several of UT's committed players took unofficial visits during the game. Linebacker Chris Walker from Christian Brothers High School in Memphis also made the trip. The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder is considering several schools, including UT, LSU and Alabama.

UT didn't host any prospects as official visitors this weekend.