ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell begins on-field preparations for the 125th season of Big Red football starting on Tuesday, April 3 with the beginning of spring practice. The Big Red will go through 10 full practices and four full weeks of meetings and team activities before hosting the annual Spring Game on Saturday, April 28 at 1 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field.
 
Third-year head coach Kent Austin guided his charges to a 5-5 record, a three-game improvement over his first season. The squad also went from one Ivy League win in 2010 to three a year ago, including closing out the season with a 48-38 victory at defending Ivy champion Penn to claim the Trustees' Cup. That came on the heels of a 62-41 victory over Columbia the week before, setting a modern day scoring record in the process.
 
The 2012 season is the 126th since football began, but Cornell did not field a team in 1918 due to World War I.
 
An unseasonably warm spring already has the Cornell campus thinking of how the Big Red warmed up the late fall with its red-hot offense. Five months after the greatest offensive explosion in the school's first 124 seasons, the Big Red will bring into the 2012 campaign a string of eight consecutive contests in which it has scored 24 points or more. Never has the Cornell offense had a longer streak.
 
Highlighting the returners is rising junior quarterback Jeff Mathews. The record-setting signal caller was the 2011 Bushnell Cup winner as Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year in 2011, becoming the first sophomore to ever win the award. Mathews emerged as one of the top quarterbacks in the entire country en route to earning first-team All-Ivy accolades. Mathews set Cornell and Ivy League records for passing yardage in a game (548 yards at Penn) and season (3,412 yards), while also setting Big Red records for touchdown passes (25), total offense (3,274 yards), completion percentage (.679) and passing efficiency (162.60). The first sophomore captain in Cornell football history, he ranked third nationally in passing yards per game and pass efficiency, fourth in total offense and 10th in points responsible for. He was twice named national player of the week.
 
Mathews has plenty of weapons around him, including All-Ivy wide receivers Shane Savage (fifth-year senior who will not practice in the spring), Kurt Ondash and Luke Tasker.
 
Savage, a consensus All-American and first-team All-Ivy pick, led the Ivy League in receptions (65), receiving yards (1080) and receiving touchdowns (12). He finished fifth nationally in yards per game and 13th in receptions per game while setting school records for season yards and touchdowns. Savage averaged 123 yards per game in league games (860 yards) with nine touchdowns in seven contests.  His 12 touchdowns ranks sixth all-time in a season in Ivy history, and his three touchdowns against both Columbia and Penn tied a school record. A first-team Capital One Academic All-District selection, Savage posted four 100-yard games in 2011 and had four contests with multiple touchdowns. He had 199 receiving yards vs. Columbia, the second-highest total in a game in Cornell history.
 
Ondash had a breakout junior year, ranking 21st nationally in yards per game (85.6) and 38th in receptions per game (5.4), marks that were second and fourth in the Ivy League. He had three 100-yard receiving games in 2011 and totaled 54 catches for 856 yards and five touchdowns. Ondash had an 87-yard touchdown catch vs. Bucknell, the fifth-longest passing TD in school history, and posted 197 receiving yards against Penn, the third-highest total in Cornell history.
 
Tasker joined Savage and Ondash to create the most formidable receiving threesome in school history.  He finished his junior season ranked 22nd nationally in receptions per game (5.8) and 23rd in receiving yards per game (83.2), numbers that ranked second and third in the Ivy League in 2011. Tasker's 832 receiving yards ranks seventh in a single season at Cornell. He caught four touchdowns on the season and ran for a fifth, posting three 100-yard receiving games along the way. Tasker hauled in 12 catches against Columbia, a total that tied for third all-time at Cornell in receptions in a game. He served as special teams captain and was the team's primary punt returner and holder on placements.
 
In addition, the Big Red has several other receiving weapons back in Lucas Shapiro and Grant Gellatly, who combined for 42 catches for 390 yards and three touchdowns a year ago.
 
The offensive line will be anchored by left tackle JC Tretter. An NFL prospect entering his senior year, the converted tight end started all 10 games protecting Mathews' blind side and allowing the Big Red to set new Cornell and Ivy passing records. In just his first year on the offensive line, Tretter was a key reason the Big Red nearly cut its sacks allowed in half from 2010 despite all of the passing attempts.
 
The left side of the offensive line returns intact. Along with Tretter, Brad Wagner (LG) and captain Bob Bullington (C) return, as do Dylan Cunningham, Josh Grider, Matt Simmonds and Tucker Maggio. Each has starting experience.
 
Also back and returning from injury is rising senior Nick Mlady at H-Back. He could play an even more expanded role this season after the loss of hybrid tight end-running back Ryan Houska (the team's leading rusher and fifth-leading receiver from a year ago) to graduation. Running backs Dustin Dillard and Ahmad Avery lead those will get cracks to tote the football in the backfield, while tight end Beau Sweeney could also play the H-Back role.
 
Of course, Austin thrives on competition. And spring is the perfect time for players to emerge into new roles and show their skills.
 
The entire defense has the potential to be the most improved area. After being decimated by injuries a year ago, the Big Red will return eight starters and get back several other players expected to be key contributors.
 
The loss of All-Ivy players Zack Imhoff (DE), Brandon Lainhart (MLB) and Rashad Campbell (CB) to graduation hurts, but the Big Red still brings back six starters who are underclassmen. Included are sophomore safeties Josh Barut and Andrew Nelson. The duo ranked third and sixth on the team in tackles, respectively. In addition, rising junior Brett Buehler (68 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles) will also have the chance to make a name for himself as one of the top defensive players in the Ancient Eight.
 
Seniors Hugh Stewart and Emmitt Terrell will provide leadership to an otherwise young defensive line. Rising sophomores Cadell Williams and Shane McManamon each started for significant stretches of 2011, while rising juniors Justin Harris, Tre' Minor and Kevin Marchand have also played key roles. Minor had 48 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss a year ago while starting opposite Imhoff at end.
 
At corner, fifth-year senior Nick Booker-Tandy (who will miss the spring) and second-year players Aaron Hancock and Michael Turner will vie for playing time. Booker-Tandy was a second-team Academic All-American and posted 27 tackles and three interceptions after converting from tailback during the fall.
 
Special teams will also need to be sorted out after the graduation of All-Ivy place-kicker Brad Greenway, who also punted in 2011, and Rashad Campbell, who set the school's kick return yardage for a season with 994 yards a year ago. Rising sophomore Sam Wood will vie to be the team's starting punter and will also challenge to be Mathews' backup at quarterback. Luke Tasker will also look to be the punt returner for the third straight year.
 
Cornell will open the 2012 season at Fordham on Sept. 15 to kick off its 125th season of football. The Big Red opens Ivy play at home the following weekend when it plays host to Yale.