The last time the football team took on Colgate, it marked the official beginning of the post-honeymoon portion of 2008. With Cornell coming off a loss to Harvard, its first of the season, the Raiders treated Schoellkopf Field like their personal treadmill, logging 345 rushing yards despite losing their top running back in the second quarter. Colgate’s dominance on the ground opened up the passing lanes for quarterback Greg Sullivan, who totaled 255 passing yards and a touchdown despite completing just 8-of-17 attempts. Sullivan, now averaging 161 yards per game as a junior, also scrambled for a touchdown, but the real hero of the rushing game was Nate Eachus.

Just a few months ago, Anthony Ambrosi probably couldn’t have guessed that his first touchdown as a varsity player would come out of the hands of Yale’s quarterback. The junior safety was the starting tailback as a freshman on the junior varsity squad and saw time on the special teams units as a sophomore, but knew an opportunity when he saw it.

The most obvious question for Cornell football this offseason was who would replace the Ivy League’s leading passer, Nathan Ford ’09. From the moment the curtain closed on the 2008 campaign, senior Ben Ganter was the early favorite, and he never looked back.

As Ford’s backup for the past two years, Ganter’s firm grasp of the offense and strong arm in the pocket ensured he would be the preseason favorite to serve as the Red’s primary signal caller in 2009.

Last season, the Red had one of the best aerial attacks it has ever had. Cornell employed a wide-open offense that often featured three or more receivers. Led by quarterback Nathan Ford ’09, the Red led the league in passing yards per game with an offense that was uncharacteristically pass-happy by Ivy standards.

Four of the most prominent members of the Red’s dynamic passing game have graduated since last season’s success. Along with Ford, receivers Jesse Baker ’09, Zac Canty ’09 and Shane Kilcoyne ’09 all graduated in the spring. Baker, Canty and Kilcoyne finished first, second and fourth, respectively, in receptions last season.

Cornell has opened each of the past two seasons with a win over Bucknell. When the Red welcomes the Bison to Ithaca tomorrow, the Red will have a chance to extend that streak to three.

Cornell will continue its annual tradition of opening the season against Bucknell (1-1). In last season’s meeting, Cornell won in large part due to a blocked extra point. The Red prevailed 28-27 in a down-to-the-wire thriller in Lewisburg, Penn.

The Red’s run defense was porous at best in 2008 — the team gave up 147.6 yards per game on the ground, and 16 of the 22 touchdowns scored by opposing teams came via the rush. Among the Ancient Eight, only Dartmouth, which gave up 234.5 rushing yards per game en route to a 0-10 record, fared worse against the run. Cornell’s struggles started with its defensive line, which was supposed to be a position of strength, manned by veterans Dario Arezzo ’09, Frank Kunis ’09 and Lucas McCarthy ’09. With all three starters graduated and their backups no longer with the team, it seems like a logical conclusion that opponents will run rampant over the Red’s defensive line again in 2009.

Cornerback Emani Fenton is good, but we may never know how good. It is difficult for the 5-9, 169 pound junior to showcase his skills when opposing quarterbacks refuse to throw the ball in his direction, but this year they may have no other choice. With no identifiable weak link, the secondary appears to be a strength for the defense this season, as Ivy League signal callers will soon learn.

Senior Frank Morand has made a smooth transition from cornerback to strong safety while a pair of juniors, Ben Heller and Dempsey Quinn, will fill the void left by first-team All-Ivy free safety Tim Bax ’09. Sophomore Rashad Campbell capitalized on the playing time he received in Cornell’s final four contests last season and has secured the other starting cornerback position.

Typically, when only two starters remain on the defensive side of the ball from the previous season, there would be cause for concern. As the football team faces an opposing challenge in rebuilding the defensive corps, it is reassuring that senior middle linebacker Chris Costello can be counted upon as a returning building block. A preseason All-American honorable mention, Costello led the Red with 90 tackles and nine tackles for a loss in 2008.

Flanking Costello on either side will be senior Aaron Levine at strong-side linebacker and junior Brandon Lainhart at weak side linebacker. Levine, primarily a special teams player last year and Lainhart, who was sidelined all of last season with an injury, will see their first significant minutes at the linebacker position this season.

Harvard and surprising Brown finished tied for the Ivy League title in 2008 after the Bears downed the Crimson in the teams’ first Ivy matchup of the season. Brown boasted a potent offense, but lost a number of key cogs to graduation. Likewise, Harvard lost talented quarterback Chris Pizzotti, who worked out in New York Jets training camp for a number of weeks, to graduation. Columbia improved from its 0-10 finish in 2007 to a 2-5 Ivy record in 2008, including a win over Cornell in New York. The two are tied for sixth in the preseason media poll this year. Penn’s only Ivy losses were to Brown and Harvard last year, and the Quakers return junior back Mike DiMaggio, who racked up 65 yards per game.

In its final tune-up before welcoming Bucknell for its home opener on Sept. 19, Cornell outscored Hobart with three touchdowns and two field goals in a scrimmage at Schoellkopf Field Saturday afternoon. The starters played only one quarter against the Statesmen, ranked No. 17 in the nation amongst D-III programs, but scored 10 unanswered points and played lockdown defense before turning things over to the backups.

Senior quarterback Ben Ganter was efficient in limited action, completing 6-of-9 pass attempts for 85 yards. Wearing an alternate black jersey as a precautionary measure, Ganter displayed a strong arm and solid command of the offense.