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.”

Senior co-captain Nathan Ford has already proven that he has an arm. The two-year starter finished last year third on the school’s career passing list with 3,451 yards. Ford’s ability to work Knowles’ installment of the West Coast offense shows his talent in the pocket. But with a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 6-to-14, Knowles will be looking for more from his leader in the pocket, especially in his second season in the system.

“[Ford] has to be able to make better decision,” Knowles said. “He is going into his third year but the second year of this offensive staff. They expect him to improve by leaps and bounds … It’s a maturity thing, second year in the system, having better protection, better alleys, everybody has to work on it.”

It doesn’t take many conversations with Jim Knowles ’87 before you can accurately predict his response to the ubiquitous question, “What’s the key to winning this week, coach?”

“Control the line.”

It may be dressed up with rephrasing, synonyms or adjectives, but the core message is always the same — “Control the line.”

Half of this responsibility falls on the offensive line. After losing three of the five starters to graduation, the offensive line will rely on the leadership of returning senior tackles Steve Valenta and Quentin Bernhard.

“We have a lot of confidence this year in the offense and the offensive line,” Valenta said. “We have a lot of veterans and we’re all a year older.”

It’s difficult to tell from the statistics exactly what plagued the Red defense in 2007, but there’s no question that something was not clicking. One week it gave up four rushing touchdowns and 277 rushing yards but only 96 receiving yards and one touchdown pass. The next week, the squad allowed just 71 rushing yards but saw the opposing quarterback throw for 339 yards and four touchdowns.

Senior defensive lineman Dario Arezzo is still smarting from the way the Red ended the 2007 season — a 45-9 loss to Penn in which the defense gave up 449 yards, 329 of which were rushing yards.

“It wasn’t a good game to go out on,” Arezzo said.

Known primarily for his pass rushing and ability to penetrate the offensive line, Arezzo tallied 3.5 sacks for a total loss of 17 yards last season. Of his 26 total tackles, 7.5 were were registered in the backfield. Arezzo’s penchant for pressuring the quarterback will come in handy this season as the Red attempts to patch up a leaky pass defense that allowed 2,034 passing yards.

After taking a hard hit following the graduation of veteran linebackers Ryan Blessing and Doug Lempa, look for the line to make some significant changes going into the 2008 season. Several upperclassmen with both defensive line and linebacker experience will come on in a full-time linebacker position to compensate for the losses.

Senior Graham Rihn will be one of the Red players leading the charge as the Red transitions from the a 4-2-5 defense known as the “Bear Front,” to a 3-3-5, with three defensive linemen, three linebackers and five defensive backs.

“We’re strictly linebackers, now,” said senior Brian Ostrowsky, who racked up 29 tackles last season while switching back and forth between linemen and defensive back positions.

When football head coach Jim Knowles ’87 said that senior linebacker Graham Rihn knew how to “handle himself socially,” it was hard to know exactly what he meant.

Get introduced to Rihn, though, and you get what Knowles was talking about. Despite a recently-minted cast on his broken right hand, Rihn still walks up to you and offers his club-for-a-hand to shake. Some would feel awkward; Rihn smiles confidently and meets your gaze.

“He’s outgoing, but he knows where the lines are,” Knowles said. “He’s just that kind of kid. He has the respect of the team because of the way he plays the game and handles himself.”