When the Heat Was On, Bruins Were Off : UCLA: A field temperature of 112 and a crowd of 97,117 take their toll in loss to Tennessee.

This is no place to be playing, officiating or watching football in the middle of the afternoon on the second Saturday in September.

It is remarkable that Tennessee and UCLA performed as well as they did on a muggy day when the temperature on the artificial turf of Shields-Watkins Field at Neyland Stadium reached 112.

“I can’t remember more uncomfortable weather for a game,” UCLA Coach Terry Donahue said after the Bruins were defeated, 30-16. “The heat was a bigger factor than the crowd. Of course, Tennessee had to play under the same conditions. Guys were cramping up, and we both had to do a lot (more) substituting than usual.”

It wouldn’t have been nearly so hellish if the teams had kicked off under the lights, as had been planned.

But two months ago, TBS decided to televise the game as part of its Southeastern Conference package.

Presto, a 7 p.m. kickoff became a 12:40 p.m. kickoff, and each school was enriched by a couple of hundred thousand dollars.

Football is big business.

The capacity of the campus stadium is listed as 91,902. The average attendance last year was 95,022. The sea of orange Saturday afternoon was created by 97,117. A couple of years ago, the capacity of Neyland Stadium was increased by narrowing the seats, prompting thousands of Tennesseans to go on diets.

New season ticket-holders are required to donate $250 to $5,000 to the football program.

The newest item on sale in the campus book store is a porcelain doll in the shape of a Tennessee cheerleader. For $250, you can have the hairstyle and eye color of your choice.

But for the opening home game, baseball hats were the hottest seller.

It was so sticky that Volunteer Coach Johnny Majors removed his jacket during the first quarter.

And in the fourth quarter his rival coach was the hottest man in the house.

With Tennessee’s lead having shrunk to 23-16, Volunteer receiver Craig Faulkner was run out of bounds by safety Othello Henderson at the UCLA 23-yard line.

Faulkner didn’t hear the whistle and kept running.

Bruin cornerback Carlton Gray didn’t hear the whistle and kept running until he hogtied Faulkner near the goal line.

Gray was called for a personal foul by a member of the all-Southeastern Conference officiating crew.

Terry Donahue objected and was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

The two penalties put the Volunteers on the six-yard line, and they scored a touchdown two plays later to, if such a thing were possible this day, gain some breathing room.

Donahue merely said:

“I got upset because the runner didn’t stop and the tackler didn’t stop because it was virtually impossible to hear anything.

“I felt bad. We were coming back and hanging in there. It was a bad call at a bad time. Otherwise, I have no complaints about the officiating. The crew did a good job.”

In the first half, the crew was responsible for more Bruin yardage, 77 in penalties, than Tommy Maddox’s passes, 34.

Among Maddox’s misadventures was something known as the “swinging gate.”

In the first quarter, the ball was put on the ground at a spot on the left side where a wide receiver normally would line up.

With the rest of the team to his right, Maddox picked up the ball and tossed it behind him to flanker Paul Richardson.

However, Maddox misfired and Richardson was thrown for a 16-yard loss.

“The shuttle blew up,” Donahue said. “The guy was supposed to scoot around end for about 20 yards. It didn’t look like it, but we worked on that play a lot in practice.”

He should have known that on the second Saturday in September in Knoxville it would turn out to be a half-baked idea.