BERKELEY, Calif. - Tennessee defensive coordinator John Chavis walked away from Memorial Stadium with one major certainty after the Vols' 45-31 loss to No. 12 California on Saturday night: His defense didn't look a whole lot like he's used to seeing it.

"That's not typical of Tennessee football," Chavis said, "particularly Tennessee defense."

Certainly, Tennessee's night could have been worse.

Defensive end Xavier Mitchell spent several minutes on the turf after tackling Cal running back Justin Forsett near the Vols' 10-yard line.

He was carted off and taken to a local hospital where he had X-rays and an MRI.

As of press time, UT coach Phillip Fulmer said he hoped Mitchell would be able to join the Vols on their cross-country flight home to Knoxville.

"He was alert and talking when he left the field," Chavis said. "We're hoping everything's fine. He said he felt fine, but when those things occur, you want to make sure."

Tennessee couldn't do much about Cal's first score, a 44-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Worrell Williams.

But the Golden Bears (1-0) got their second touchdown of the game on their second possession came courtesy of a 4 minute, 45 second drive that showed just how vulnerable the Vols can be.

On third-and-2, Cal tailback Forsett took a pitch 15 yards.

Three plays later, quarterback Nate Longshore scored from 2 yards out.

Cal's third score - a 77-yard punt return by DeSean Jackson - wasn't on the defense, either.

But the next four touchdowns were.

And Chavis said they happened in large part because the Vols couldn't wrap up.

"We didn't tackle as well as I thought we would," Chavis said. "That's my responsibility. We're going to look at the film, we're going to go to work and we're definitely going to get better."

Players like Forsett or Jackson or receiver Lavelle Hawkins on the other side of the ball didn't help, either.

"You've got to give Cal a little credit," Chavis said. "We played a good football team. We played a team that was in the top 10 in every (offensive) category last year."

After giving up a 63-yard drive to start the second half, the Vols' defense held Cal without points on its next three drives.

That happened thanks to better execution and tackling, Chavis said.

"We executed a little better, we tackled a little better in that period, and emotionally I think we played a lot better," he said. "You've got to be able to do that for 60 minutes."

It didn't even last a quarter.

With Tennessee trailing by seven points with nearly 11 minutes left, Cal moved 70 yards in just five plays.

On that drive, Longshore connected on consecutive passes of 24, 23 and 10 yards before Forsett scored from 13 yards out to all but put the game away with 9:10 left.

"We didn't play the way we were capable of playing," Chavis said. "The tackling was not acceptable. We're going to get that squared away. We'll look at personnel, we'll look at the whole deal. Whatever we need to do to get better, that's what we're going to do.

"Right now our focus is going back to Knoxville, getting this game behind us, correcting the mistakes and getting back on the field. And I can't wait to get back on the field to work. Because we've got a lot of work to do."

There's just not a lot of time left.

In two weeks, the Vols will face the Florida Gators in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, with more on the line.

That's the only place a team has scored more points on a Chavis-led defense than Cal did on Saturday, when the Gators hung 62 on the Vols in 1995.

"We didn't play Tennessee defense tonight," he said. "We're going to go back and work on those things, and we'll be better next ball game, I guarantee you that."

Drew Edwards covers University of Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274.