Getting to Know You...

My pre-Ivy Football media day 7-day series preparing everyone, especially the members of the media, with what they need to know about every Ivy team other than Columbia continues today with a look at Cornell.

2012 Record: 4-6 (2-5 Ivy, tied for 6th)

Coach: David Archer (1st year) 

Last Season in One Sentence: Jeff Mathews and the Big Red passing game were great, but everything else wasn't; Cornell's defense was porous and the team was clueless when Mathews was subdued. 

Four Returning Cornell Players You Need to Know: QB Jeff Mathews, WR Grant Gellatly, RB Luke Hagy, LB Brett Bueler

Big Losses: WR Luke Tasker, WR Kurt Ondash, OL JC Tretter, HC Kent Austin

Big Questions: Will new coach Archer's promise to balance the pass and the run better work? Is it even worth trying? Can the Cornell defense get better, especially against the run? Will a 28-year-old head coach make it against the grown ups? 

Jake’s Overall Take: Mathews is still a joy to watch as a passer and I expect great things from him in his senior season... but so will everyone else. Mathews had a big ol' bull's eye on his back throughout 2012, and opposing defenses will tee off on him again this fall. Archer is well versed with the Cornell program as a former captain and long-time assistant coach, but he still seems very green for the job. Kent Austin had the Big Red going in the general right direction before the CFL started distracting him with the job offers that eventually lured him out of Ithaca. A lot rides on Hagy, who Archer will ask to carry the ball a lot more, and Hagy is talented. But he'll have to work harder without the top blocking of guys like Tretter. The defense is still generally a mess.