100 Days of Vols #54 - The offensive binge against Cal in 2006

To put a sarcastic (scarcastic?) positive spin on it, the Tennessee offense went on a diet in 2005. The Vols entered the season in the Top 5 and crashed, burned, and went breathless by the time Vanderbilt rolled into town. The offense finished the season ranked 90th in the country.

When the 2006 kickoff came around, we were hungry for some offense. I mean, like, really hungry.

And boy did we eat well that day against Cal. We didn't score until late in the first quarter, when Erik Ainge hit Chris Brown for a 12-yard TD, and we didn't score again until there was 3:03 left in the first half when Ainge discovered Robert Meachem. The score was 14-0 going into the locker room, but those two touchdowns were just appetizers.

In the third quarter, they rolled out the all-you-can-eat buffet. An 80-yard TD from Ainge to Meachem made it 21-0, and that was followed up by a 50-yard TD from Ainge to Jayson Swain. Montario Hardesty then took a 43-yarder to the house to make it 35-0.

I was sitting in the very top row of Neyland Stadium with one of my young daughters for this game, and we will always remember it. Where were you, and what do you remember about this game?