The game was a shootout, even for college football, with the two teams combining for 52 first-half points and the winning squad gaining an impressive 171 yards in the fourth quarter alone.

But while the California-Tennessee matchup that kicked off the second season of ABC’s “Saturday Night Football” over the weekend may have had entertainment value, it lacked the national appeal that led to huge ratings for game one last season.

“SNF” averaged a 1.6 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 11 p.m. Saturday, according to Nielsen overnights, barely half of what last year’s opener between fan favorite Notre Dame and Georgia Tech drew.

Overnight ratings measure timeslot data, and not actual program data, which will be released with final ratings later today; since the game lasted past 11 p.m., the rating will likely be slightly up or down.

ABC still won the night among 18-49s, though by a much slimmer margin than last year, when the game averaged a 3.0 18-49 rating and 8.6 million total viewers. Saturday’s matchup drew only 4.9 million viewers, or 100,000 more than tuned in to Fox’s “Cops” and “America’s Most Wanted.”

The Golden Bears won the game with 45 points to the University of Tennessee's 31. While it pitted two squads in the nation’s top 15 in the weekend's only matchup of top 25 teams, neither has the rabid following of Notre Dame, which always does well in primetime. But the teams can take comfort in the fact that the Irish’s day didn’t go much better, numbers-wise – they were pounded 33-3 by the Yellow Jackets in both teams’ opener.
 
ABC was, as mentioned, first among viewers 18-49 with a 1.6 average rating and a 6 share Saturday night. Fox was second at 1.4/5, CBS third at 1.1/4, Univision fourth at 0.9/3 and NBC fifth at 0.6/2.
 
ABC began the night in the lead with a 1.7 rating at 8 p.m. for its first hour of “SNF.” Fox was second with a 1.3 for an hour of “Cops” repeats, CBS third with a 0.8 for “Crimetime,” Univision fourth with a 0.7 for its first of three hours of “Sabado Gigante” and NBC fifth with a 0.5 for a repeat of “Friday Night Lights.”
 
At 9 p.m. ABC led again with a 1.8 for its second hour of football, with Fox second with a 1.4 for “America’s Most Wanted.” CBS was third with a 1.0 for a repeat of “48 Hours Mystery,” Univision fourth with a 0.9 for its second hour of “Gigante” and NBC fifth with a 0.6 for another “Lights” rerun.
 
ABC led again at 10 p.m. with a 1.5 for football, though CBS made it close with a 1.4 for another “48 Hours Mystery” repeat. Univision was third with a 0.9 for its last hour of “Gigante” and NBC fourth with a 0.8 for yet another repeat of “Lights.”
 
Though ABC finished first every hour on Saturday night among 18-49s, CBS was tops for the night among households with a 4.0 average rating and an 8 share. Fox was second at 3.1/6, ABC third at 3.0/6, NBC fourth at 1.3/3 and Univision fifth at 1.2/2.

Meanwhile, in other holiday weekend overnight ratings, Fox was first Friday night with a 1.6 average rating and a 6 share, followed closely by Univision at 1.5/5. CW was third at 1.4/5, ABC fourth at 1.3/5, NBC fifth at 1.2/4 and CBS sixth at 1.1/4.
 
At 8 p.m. Fox led with a 1.4 for the first hour of the movie “13 Going on 30,” followed by CW with a 1.3 for its first hour of “WWE Smackdown.” CBS was third with a 1.1 for a repeat of “Ghost Whisperer,” Univision and NBC tied for fourth at 1.0, Univision for “Amar sin Limites” and NBC for “1 vs. 100,” and ABC took sixth with a 0.8 for the finale of “Set for Life.”
 
At 9 p.m. Fox and Univision tied for the lead at 1.9, Fox for the second half of its movie and Univision for “Destilando Amor.” CW was third with a 1.5 for its second half of “Smackdown,” while NBC and ABC tied for fourth at 1.2, NBC for “Dateline” and ABC for “George Lopez” repeats. CBS placed sixth with a 0.9 for a repeat of “Jericho.”
 
ABC took the lead at 10 p.m. with a 2.0 for “20/20,” with Univision alone in second with a 1.4 for “La Familia.” CBS and NBC tied for third at 1.3, CBS for a repeat of “Numb3rs” and NBC for a repeat of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”
 
NBC was first for the night among households with a 3.3 average overnight rating and a 6 share, with CBS second at 3.2/6, ABC third at 3.0/6, Fox fourth at 2.8/6, CW fifth at 2.6/5 and Univision sixth at 1.8/3.
 
On Sunday night Fox was again first among 18-49s with a 1.7 average overnight rating and a 6 share. NBC was second at 1.4/5, CBS third at 1.3/5, ABC fourth at 1.2/4, Univision fifth at 0.9/3 and CW sixth at 0.3/1.
 
ABC started the night in the lead with a 1.2 rating at 7 p.m. for a repeat of “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” NBC was second with a 1.1 for “Dateline,” CBS third with a 0.9 for “60 Minutes,” Univision fourth with a 0.8 for “Hora Pico,” Fox fifth with a 0.7 for its fall TV preview and a repeat of “King of the Hill,” and CW sixth with a 0.3 for a repeat of “Smallville.”
 
CBS took the lead at 8 p.m. with a 2.1 for “Big Brother,” and Fox crept up to second with a 1.9 for an hour of repeats of “The Simpsons.” ABC was third with a 1.4 for a repeat of ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” NBC fourth with a 1.1 for another hour of “Dateline,” Univision fifth with a 0.8 for its first of three hours of “Buscando a Timbiriche” and CW sixth with a 0.3 for a repeat of “7th Heaven.”
 
At 9 p.m. Fox took the lead with a 2.6 for an hour of “Family Guy” repeats, with NBC second with a 1.5 for a re-airing of “Saturday Night Live in the ‘80s: Lost and Found.” CBS was third that hour with a 1.3 for a repeat of “Cold Case,” while Univision and ABC tied for fourth at 1.0, Univision for its second hour of “Buscando” and ABC for a repeat of “Desperate Housewives.” CW was sixth again, this time with 0.3 for a repeat of “Pussycat Dolls Present: Search for the Next Doll.”
 
NBC jumped into the lead at 10 p.m. with a 1.8 for the second half of its “SNL” special. CBS was second with a 1.2 for a repeat of “Shark,” ABC third with a 1.1 for a repeat of “Brothers & Sisters” and Univision fourth with a 1.0 for its last hour of “Buscando.”
 
Among households, CBS led Sunday night with a 3.9 average overnight rating and an 8 share. NBC was second at 3.2/6, ABC third at 2.7/5, Fox fourth at 2.2/4, Univision fifth at 1.0/2 and CW sixth at 0.6/1.