The Big Red is coming off its fourth straight winning season, having gone 4-3 overall and posting a 3-2 conference record last year. Cornell returns 28 letter winners and 14 starters to the squad, including eight players that received post-season honors from the CSFL in 2009.

Bart Guccia returns in his third season as co-head coach, along with longtime head coach Terry Cullen, who begins his 45th season at the helm of the program. In Guccia's first two seasons, the team has gone 9-5 overall and has earned two upper-half finishes in the CSFL.

Offensive Backfield: Senior Elliot Corey returns to the quarterback position with a solid year of experience under his belt. During his first season as a starter, Corey completed 47-of-133 passes, throwing for 690 yards, five touchdowns and six interceptions. Corey was also the second leading rusher on the team, running the ball 101 times for 347 yards (3.4 per carry). He averaged 49.6 yards per game and finished the year with three rushing touchdowns. He will be backed up by freshman Brendan Miller, a stellar athlete who was named the runner-up for the 2010 NorthJerseySports.com Male Athlete of the Year award. Joining Corey in the backfield will be junior Doug Famularo. A player with great speed, Famularo saw action in three games during his sophomore season, rushing the ball 19 times for a total of 45 yards (2.4 per carry). Sophomore Brendan Bruno, a newcomer to the sprint football squad, could also see solid time out of the backfield.

Receivers: With the departure of Upal Sarker and Chris LaBerge, Corey will be counting on several of last season's backups to step up. Sophomore Sepnser Grunenfelder will look to pick up the slack at split end. He saw action in one game during his rookie career, making one catch against Mansfield for 35 yards. Also look for Curran Reddy to run out of the split end position. Last season, Reddy played in four games, making his only two catches of the season against Princeton, accumulating 15 total yards. At flanker, the Big Red will look to a pair of converted quarterbacks – junior Tim Bruhn and junior Garrett Koehler. Senior Sam Aleinikoff will provide a threat from the tight end position. In his first full year with the team last season, Aleinikoff saw action in three games for the Big Red. He will be backed up by junior Ramond King, a newcomer to the sprint football squad.

Offensive Line: The Big Red sees a lot of turnover on its offensive line from a season ago, a group that blocked for one of the best rushing seasons in Cornell history. The coaching staff is hoping that Cornell will benefit from an upperclassmen-laden squad, as they look to play three seniors and two juniors. The group will be led by first-team All-CSFL selection Patrick Dooley, as well as returning started George Gomez. Senior Tim Konzelman returns with some experience, after seeing action in three games last season, while a pair of converted defensive players – senior Eric Baranek and senior Matt Ferrari – will switch to the offensive side of the ball. Ferrari will have the biggest adjustment to make after earning first-team All-CSFL honors last season as a linebacker.

Defensive Line: Cornell will enjoy the efforts of four defensive linemen that all have playing experience on the defensive side of the ball, led by senior Tim Kozen, a second-team All-CSFL selection from a season ago. Kozen finished the season with 16 tackles, including six for a loss of 36 yards, and led the team with 2.5 sacks. Joining him on the defensive line will be junior Michael Hernandez, senior Joseph Bright and junior Colin Lounsberry. Hernandez played defensive back a year ago and enjoyed an increased amount of playing time, seeing action in six games. He registered 16 total tackles, including three for a loss of 16 yards, earned a sack and broke-up one pass. Bright played in two games during his junior season and made three tackles, including one for a loss of two yards, while Lounsberry saw action in four games tallied 10 tackles, one tackle for a loss and a half-sack. He also broke-up two passes and recovered one fumble.

Linebackers: The heart of the defense may be Cornell's biggest strength. The linebacking duo of senior junior Clay Hemminger and Prys Carvolth should prove to be two of the best in the CSFL. Hemminger, a co-captain for the 2010 squad, earned a second-team All-CSFL selection after a junior season in which he ranked second on the team with 36 tackles, including six tackles for a loss of 37 yards. He also registered 2.5 sacks for a loss of 27 yards, broke up one pass, forced one fumble and blocked one kick. Carvolth is known for his great speed and quickness, which allows him to play a lot of man to man against some of the better receivers in the CSFL. He played in five games during his junior season and earned an All-CSFL honorable mention selection. He finished the year with 10 tackles and ranked second on the team with four broken-up passes. Joining Hemminger and Carvolth will be senior Ted Alexander. Last season, Alexander saw action in two games He made six tackles, including one sack for a loss of four yards, broke-up one pass and registered two interceptions.

Defensive Backs: In addition to a strong linebacker group, the Big Red will benefit from a very sound core of safeties. Headlining the group is a pair of All-CSFL recipients, seniors Jon Mackintosh and Chris Lamont. As a junior, Mackintosh was able to fully concentrate on being a defensive back after spending his first two seasons splitting duty between playing defense and serving as the team's punter. As a result, he earned a second-team All-CSFL selection and was selected to serve as co-captain of this year's squad. Mackintosh finished the year with three interceptions and was the league leader in pass deflections with five. He also ranked fourth on the team with 31 total tackles, registering 1.5 tackles for a loss of 12 yards. A quick athlete with a lot of speed, Lamont saw action in all seven games during his junior season and earned an honorable mention All-CSFL selection. He compiled 22 tackles, including 1.5 for a loss of five yards. He also broke up three passes, forced one fumble and came up with one interception that he returned for 39 yards. Joining Mackintosh and Lamont will be a pair of experienced safeties in juniors Tim Dooley and Matt Rosenthal. A strong physical presence on the field and an extremely hard worker, Dooley saw action in five games during his sophomore season. He posted 17 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for a loss of four yards. He had a season-high three tackles in each of the Big Red's games vs. Mansfield. In his first year with the Big Red, Rosenthal saw action in four games. He recovered two fumbles on the season, with one coming against Princeton and the other against Army.

Kicking Game: Cornell returns the best kicker in the league in senior Alex Perilstein. A first-team All-CSFL selection after his first season with the Big Red's sprint football squad, Perilstein joined the team after spending his first two seasons as a backup on the varsity squad. He set the school record with a 49-yard field goal and he was among the most reliable kickers in the league, completing 8-of-13 field goals and all 12 extra point attempts. Perilstein also handled the punting duties for the Big Red and was exceptional in that role, punting 30 times for a total of 1,048 yards. He averaged 34.9 yards per punt, with a long of 71 yards. Throughout the course of the season, he had five punts fair caught, placed six punts inside the 20-yard line, booted three punts more than 50 yards and registered three touchbacks without having a single punt blocked. Following the season finale against Mansfield, Perilstein was named CSFL Special Teams Player of the Week after making a 42-yard field goal and connecting on all four extra points. He also had a punt land inside the 20-yard line.