California entered last season full of high expectations, but surrendered the first 35 points of its season opener en route to a loss at Tennessee.

The 12th-ranked Golden Bears get their chance at revenge a year later when their experienced team hosts the No. 15 Volunteers on Saturday night in the season opener for both teams.

California (10-3) was considered a national title contender in 2006, and was sporting a No. 9 preseason ranking - its highest in 54 years. The Golden Bears were also a popular choice to unseat Southern California atop the Pac-10 Conference.

However, the national title hopes took a big hit in the 35-18 loss to Tennessee, which had finished 5-6 the previous year. The Volunteers built a 35-0 lead in the third quarter at Neyland Stadium as Erik Ainge threw for 291 yards and four touchdowns, including two to star receiver Robert Meachem as Tennessee shined in David Cutcliffe’s return as offensive coordinator.

California recovered to win its next eight games, and finished in a first-place tie with USC for first place in the Pac-10. Although the Golden Bears routed Texas A&M 45-10 in the Holiday Bowl, the beating they received in the opener left a bad taste for a program seeking to move into college football’s top echelon.

“Last season, we had a rough start at Tennessee,” Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. “As we come into this year, we have them at our place. It’s not so much about revenge as it is about redemption about the way we play.

“We’re not going to focus so much on Tennessee, but on ourself to reach our full potential. And if we do that every single week, work hard to reach our full potential, we feel we can be successful any given week.”

The Golden Bears have 16 starters back from last season, including eight on offense. The unit is led by junior quarterback Nate Longshore, who threw for 3,021 yards and 24 touchdowns as a sophomore.

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“This is the first time that we’ve had a returning quarterback that played the previous season come back and start for us in our five years,” Tedford said. “Nate is a student of the game, he has experience now and really in all environments. Starting out last year at Tennessee was as tough a look as you’re going to get.”

The offense has lost a major asset in tailback Marshawn Lynch, the 2006 Pac-10 offensive player of the year. Senior Justin Forsett, who gained 124 yards in the bowl game against Texas A&M, is now expected to shoulder the load.

Longshore also has explosive DeSean Jackson at his disposal. Jackson, tabbed by many as the top receiver in the country, had 1,060 yards receiving in 2006 and also set a Pac-10 record by returning four punts for touchdowns.

“We have a solid group of receivers and we are all trying to get each other ready for the season,” Jackson said. “Nate and I have been working all summer on our timing. We are just working to get on the same page.”

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Ainge turned in the best season of his career for Tennessee (9-4), throwing for 2,989 yards, 19 touchdowns and setting a single-season school record by completing 67.0 percent of his passes.

Much of that success was attributed to Cutcliffe, who returned to Knoxville after six years as the head coach at Mississippi. Cutcliffe was also Philip Fulmer’s offensive coordinator with the Vols from 1993-98.

Meachem, who set a school record with 1,298 yards, bypassed his senior year to become a first-round draft pick of the New Orleans Saints. His departure leaves the Vols only three receivers with experience - Lucas Taylor, Josh Briscoe and Austin Rogers, who have combined for 29 career catches.

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“I could not ask any more from the guys that return,” Fulmer said. “Obviously losing Robert Meachem and (receivers) Jayson Swain and Bret Smith is a big loss, a big loss for us - for anybody that loses that many people at the same position going into a season.”

Both teams are picked to finish second in their respective conferences, Tennessee behind defending national champion Florida in the SEC East and Cal behind the top-ranked Trojans.

The Volunteers have some question marks on their defensive line while the Golden Bears’ defense is led by Butkus Award candidate linebacker Zack Follett. Cal has four players back in its secondary, although All-American cornerback Daymeion Hughes is not among them.

Tennessee is 2-6-1 all-time in the state of California, where it hasn’t played since a 30-24 win at UCLA on Sept. 6, 1997. The Golden Bears went 8-0 at home last year.