When opposing players break through the Red defense’s front lines they know they’d better not cruise casually downfield for two reasons: senior safeties Tim Bax and Gus Krimm. The hard-hitting leaders of the Red secondary are known and respected throughout the Ivy League for their hustle and football instincts as well as their punishing tackles.

Remember when Kordell “Slash” Stewart played quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers and he also lined up as a wide receiver and running back? Cornell junior Stephen Liuzza is made from the same mold.

In 2007, he demonstrated triple-threat capabilities as a wide receiver, running back and quarterback. Filling in for the injured Nathan Ford at quarterback against Dartmouth on Nov. 3, 2007, Liuzza amassed 423 yards of total offense and three touchdowns. These numbers represent the third-highest single game offensive outburst in school history.

By the end of his sophomore campaign, Liuzza had tossed for 538 yards on 52-of-81 passing and a touchdown while accumulating an additional 347 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

Players selected for the task of special teams have an interesting job. For many, their careers exist in short, highly concentrated bursts of adrenaline, followed by longer periods of anxious waiting from the sidelines. The football special teams unit shares more than just a name with military Special Ops forces — they may be small and infrequently deployed, but never underestimate their power or the lightning fast way they can exert their influence over the game. One special teams play can be the difference between a win and a loss.

On the last day of the 2007 season, Yale and Harvard met at the Yale Bowl with the Ivy League title on the line. Yale seemed like the favorite after rolling over nearly all of its opponents, but with All-League running back Mike McLeod hampered due to injury, the Crimson won in a blowout. Now both teams are back for more, tied atop the preseason media poll. Brown and Penn are not too far behind, though. Brown boasts one of the best passing attacks in the nation, while Penn’s star quarterback wil return from a shoulder injury that sidelined him last year.

Brown Bears

2007: 5-5, 4-3 Ivy

With a 6 p.m. start time tomorrow, Cornell will be the last Ivy League team — and thus the last team in the nation — to get its football season under way. The Red will travel to Lewisberg, Penn., to take on Bucknell, a squad Cornell demolished, 38-14, last year.

With an early-season showdown with Ivy-favorite Yale looming next weekend, this will be the only tuneup Cornell gets before being thrown into the lion’s den against a team that felled the Red last year, 51-12.

Jim Knowles ’87 rarely speaks before he thinks. He’s not afraid to collect his thoughts for a moment, twirling the giant, jewel-encrusted Cotton Bowl ring he got while serving as linebackers coach at Ole Miss. For once, though, a reflective pause had left him empty handed.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ll know it when I see it.”

Knowles paused again.

“What’s that one quote?”

Pornography. That’s what Knowles was thinking about. More specifically, Supreme Court justice Potter Stewart’s famous 1964 comment — “I can’t define pornography, but I know it when I see it.”

Knowles leaned back and laughed at the phrase, the ring coming to a conclusive rest.

The running backs, like any other athletes, have concrete goals for the upcoming season: gain yards, win games and so on. One of the most important objectives, however, cannot be measured so easily.

“Something we’ve really been working on is trying to be a dynamic player on the field,” said fifth-year senior Luke Siwula. “If the opportunity arises, we can take it and make a big play and make a big touchdown run. ... It could be a gamebreaker. That’s something we’ve really been focusing on.”

And the Red backs know they can do it.

“We’re pretty young, but we are one of the most talented groups on the team,” said junior Randy Barbour.

The 2005 season was a turning point for tailback Luke Siwula, as well as the entire football program. Finishing with its first overall winning record (6-4, 4-3 Ivy) since 1999, optimism was on the rise. Cornell, however, was hoping for more than the last few years have brought.

But now the Red is anticipating another big year, and Siwula doesn’t want to leave until it happens. The No. 5 all-time leading rusher at Cornell decided to return for a fifth year after sitting out most of last season with an injury.

“I think he had some unfinished business,” said head coach Jim Knowles ‘87. “Here’s a guy who had 1,000 rushing yards in his first two seasons, first team All-Ivy.”

In “the league where they play for pay,” wide receivers such as Terrell Owens, Randy Moss and Chad Johnson (Ocho Cinco) are often regarded as less than team players. Don’t throw them the ball and these prima donnas turn into spoiled brats. In contrast, Cornell’s senior signal caller, Nathan Ford, is blessed with a bevy of downfield targets who understand a team-first ap­proach is necessary to keep the chains moving toward victory.

In 2007, nine different players caught at least 10 passes for the Red and all nine targets are returning this season. Head coach Jim Knowles ’87 placed added emphasis on recruiting higher caliber players at the skill positions when he took over in 2004.

You can learn a lot of things at Cornell, but the one thing that you can’t learn is speed. You either have it or you don’t. Junior wideout Bryan Walters is one of the few who has it.

Whether he is streaking past opposing defensive backs or dissecting punt coverages, the Bothell, Wash., native has become a valuable weapon for the Red.

“I love full out running, just sprinting,” Walters said. “I think the deep ball [is my strength], definitely. The ability to stretch the defense is one my favorite things to do. [Senior quarterback] Nate [Ford] puts some air under it and I just got to run under it.”