True to form, opening day of college football 2006 failed to produce a heaping helping of surprises.

Most schools that take the sport more seriously than a faculty brunch schedule cupcake opponents for opening day. Popular candidates would be, say, Western Kentucky, LouisianaLafayette or Montana State. (Oops, sorry Colorado).

So whatever shock waves are reverberating through the college football landscape this morning, they originated at Neyland Stadium.

Watching Tennessee run up a 35-0 third-quarter lead on No. 9 California en route to a 35-18 drubbing was the stunner of the weekend.

Any other UT seasonopener in the past 100 years that score would have been interpreted as business as usual.

I know, Cal spoiled Johnny Majors' homecoming opener in 1977. But if Tennessee had won 35-18 that day nobody in Seattle would have thought twice.

After the meltdown of 2005, however, opening day 2006 cast the Vols and their coach, Phillip Fulmer, in a fragile, funky profile.

The response was as rousing as any Fulmer could have conjured from a genie in an orange lamp.

Which is why I spent part of my Sunday afternoon browsing the national reaction to the Vols' unexpected show of force.

A sampling:

Vols back with vengeance

That was the Atlanta Journal-Constitution headline on the story that described the Vols as "looking nothing like the lifeless bunch that sleepwalked through a 5-6 season in 2005 ... "

(Comment: And as a result, Cal's Craig Stevens was sleepwalking off the field after he got absolutely creamed by Robert Ayers on the opening kickoff.)

'Voluntears' to cheers

UT redemption also was the headline theme in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, which deemed the game worthy of dispatching writer Wendell Barnhouse.

"It's not yet deer season, but it was good to be dressed in orange,'' observed Barnhouse.

"Arron Sears said a loss would be 'devastating.' What was devastating was the Volunteers' offense. Apparently, David Cutcliffe deserves a lifetime, no-cut contract.''

(Comment: Did Cutcliffe bring Peyton Manning back with him? The 514 yards of total offense was 102 more than any game last season.)

Our friends from the Left Coast, naturally, analyzed the drama from a Cal slant. Hence, the San Francisco Chronicle headline:

Rocky Top Horror Show

Columnist Ray Ratto called it a "comprehensive, 35-18 tavern-style beatdown'' and noted that Cal "seemed unprepared for Tennessee's size, strength and speed, things that can't be accurately judged on tape or recreated in practice.''

(Comment: Ask Craig Stevens. If he's awake yet.)

Some variation of the Rocky Top theme was easy grist for a number of headline writers.

It's Rocky Bottom for Cal vs. Vols

That, from the Washington Post.

The Chicago Sun-Times also focused on Cal's demise:

Golden Bears are a Rocky Flop

The significance here is that Tennessee's spanking of a top-10 opponent was newsworthy enough to merit a headline in the nation's major cities as opposed to two paragraphs in a college football roundup.

Even the New York Times weighed in:

Tennessee Defeats Cal To End a Long Off-Season

(Comment: The Times story did include reaction from the German ambassador and two sources in the Pentagon.)

ESPN had plenty to say about the game that was the keystone of its opening-day coverage, virtually all of it positive.

As I staggered off to bed late Saturday night, though, Lee Corso was still insisting Cal could win the national title if it went 11-0 from here on.

(Comment: And I can still get a date to the Sugar Bowl with Angelina Jolie.)

On ESPN.com, writer Mark Schlabach zeroed in on Cutcliffe's reclamation project on quarterback Erik Ainge.

"The final score might have been 50-0 if Fulmer had left his starters in the game during the second half ....''

"But the night belonged to Ainge, who was perhaps the team's biggest question mark ... Ainge more than answered those questions."

(Comment: It's early. We'll have to come up with some more questions.)