ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell football team elected six captains for the 2012 season, the second straight year the Big Red will be represented by two offensive, two defensive and two special teams players. Three players, seniors Luke Tasker and Bob Bullington and junior Jeff Mathews, return as second-year captains, while senior Michael Hernandez and juniors Brett Buehler and Tre' Minor are in their first year in the leadership positions.
Bullington and Mathews will represent the offense, Buehler and Minor will represent the defense and Hernandez and Tasker will captain the special teams.
Buehler had an outstanding sophomore season, ranking fourth on the team in tackles (68) while starting all 10 games at linebacker. He added 8.5 tackles for loss, good for second on the squad, a sack, two forced fumbles and a pass breakup to the defensive cause. Buehler averaged nearly eight tackles per game over the first eight weeks of the season before injuries slowed him the last two weeks. He had three double figure tackle games during the year, including a season-high 11 against Harvard. Buehler was a dominant force in the win over Wagner, posting 10 tackles, including three tackles for loss and a sack, two forced fumbles and a pass breakup. Buehler opened up the year with 10 tackles and four tackles for loss in the victory over Bucknell, then notched nine stops against Colgate and Dartmouth.
A team captain as a junior, Bullington started all 10 games at center in 2011. He helped anchor an offensive line that nearly cut its sack total in half over the previous year while setting school records for passing yardage and a modern day scoring record. Bullington will begin his third year as the team's starting center in 2012.
Hernandez recorded 30 tackles, two pass breakups and a tackle for loss while playing all 10 contests for the Big Red in 2011. Hernandez played in the defensive backfield and on special teams during the season en route to earning his second letter. He posted nine tackles and had a 60-yard tackle for loss after a blocked punt against Wagner, a play that made ESPN's Top 10 Plays of the Week. He earned his first varsity letter in 2010 after playing in all 10 contests at safety, including seven starts. He posted 34 tackles, including 21 solo stops, to go along with 1.5 tackles for loss, three pass breakups and an interception.
Mathews was the 2011 Bushnell Cup winner as Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year, 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. He 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. A two-time Ivy League and national player of the week, Mathews posted two of the top three passing games in conference history and two of the top four passing totals in the FCS this season and ended the year with three 400-yard games and two 500-yard passing games, both Ivy records. Against the top three pass defenses in the Ivy League (Dartmouth, Penn and Brown), Mathews completed 70 percent of his passes and averaged 405.7 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions. His 341.2 yards per game was more than 100 yards per game higher than any other passer in the Ivy League.
Minor emerged as one of the Ivy League's best young defensive linemen as a sophomore in 2011, starting all 10 games at defensive end. He ended the season ranked second on the team among defensive linemen with 48 tackles. Minor also posted 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack while adding a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, a pass breakup and a blocked kick. Minor posted a career-best nine tackles against Dartmouth and recorded seven stops against both Bucknell and Princeton.
Tasker was an honorable mention All-Ivy pick in 2011 after finishing 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, respectively. Tasker's 832 receiving yards ranked 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.
The Big Red will open the 2012 season on Saturday, Sept. 15 when it visits Fordham at 1 p.m.
