College Football | UCLA hosts No. 18 Tennessee

PASADENA, Calif. — Tennessee had a rocky stop in California last year. The Volunteers hope for a smoother visit this time.

Humbled 45-31 by California in the 2007 opener in Berkeley, No. 18 Tennessee kicks off on the West Coast again, facing coach Rick Neuheisel's new-look UCLA Bruins at the Rose Bowl today at 5 p.m.

"Openers are always tough, but when you have a coaching switch as UCLA did, it makes it especially tough for us," Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said. "It will be a process of adjusting and learning throughout the game. Both teams will have to adjust as the game moves along."

Vols defensive end Wes Brown likes the way the nationally televised game on ESPN shapes up.

"It's going to be a heck of a lot of fun," he said. "Getting the national spotlight on Monday night football, two quality teams. It doesn't get much better than that."

Neuheisel, a former UCLA quarterback who returned to Westwood in December to replace the fired Karl Dorrell, knows the Bruins face a big test against the Vols, last year's SEC East Division champions. The Bruins slogged through a 6-7 season.

"We certainly understand the stature of their program and the challenge that lies ahead of us," former Washington coach Neuheisel said. "We're eager to find out where we are. We're aware we have a formidable foe in an SEC mainstay like Tennessee. We know we're going to have play our level best to be in the game, but that's exciting."

Both teams have new offensive coordinators and new quarterbacks. Dave Clawson joined Fulmer's Tennessee staff, and Neuheisel brought in Norm Chow to oversee the Bruins' offense.

Jonathan Crompton has replaced Erik Ainge as the Vols' quarterback. In a considerably more disruptive change, third-stringer Kevin Craft became UCLA's starter because Patrick Cowan — son of ex-Washington Huskies quarterback Tim Cowan — is out for the season with a knee injury and Ben Olson will miss at least the first few games because of a foot injury.

Notes

• Colorado beat Colorado State 38-17 in Denver on Sunday.

On Friday, Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn announced the Buffaloes would exercise their option and move next year's game to Folsom Field in Boulder for a sixth home game in 2009. Colorado State AD Paul Kowalczyk responded by moving the 2010 game to Fort Collins. That means the schools will settle for the respective $650,000 guarantees when they visit their rival instead of the annual payday of about twice that for both schools when they play in Denver.

• Kentucky routed host Louisville 27-2 in the Governor's Cup. The Wildcats scored two touchdowns on fumble recoveries — a 28-yarder by Ashton Cobb and a 72-yarder by Myron Pryor.

• Oregon offensive tackle Fenuki Tupou missed the Ducks' season-opening win over Washington because he reportedly accepted a meal and received $100 from the representative of a professional sport management firm, officials said.

The 6-foot-6, 330-pound senior served the one-game, NCAA-imposed suspension Saturday after reporting his actions to the athletic department earlier in the week and turning the money over to its compliance office, a spokesman said.

• Texas defensive tackle Lamarr Houston has been suspended for Saturday's game at Texas El-Paso after his arrest on a misdemeanor driving under the influence charge a few hours after the Longhorns beat Florida Atlantic 52-10 Saturday. He was arrested at about 3:15 a.m. Sunday.

• Georgia defensive tackle Jeff Owens will have knee surgery and miss the rest of the season.

• A day after Ohio State's Chris "Beanie" Wells fell back in a heap with an injured right foot, the second-ranked Buckeyes could do nothing but wait and hope their Heisman Trophy contender would be quick to recover. Running back Wells went down early in the third quarter of a 43-0 victory Saturday against Youngstown State.

Ohio State spokeswoman Shelly Poe, in an e-mail, said Wells had no broken bones.