The most obvious question for Cornell football this offseason was who would replace the Ivy League’s leading passer, Nathan Ford ’09. From the moment the curtain closed on the 2008 campaign, senior Ben Ganter was the early favorite, and he never looked back.

As Ford’s backup for the past two years, Ganter’s firm grasp of the offense and strong arm in the pocket ensured he would be the preseason favorite to serve as the Red’s primary signal caller in 2009.

“Ben Ganter is ready to go, he’s got a strong arm,” said head coach Jim Knowles ’87. “He’s going to make good decisions because he’s been around football his whole life. He’s going to take care of the ball. For two years now, we’ve been trying to work on improving our turnover ratio and that’s got to happen this year.”

In 2008, the Red had the dubious distinction of leading the Ancient Eight with 19 interceptions. This year, Knowles anticipates a more conservative approach from his quarterback.

“As coaches, we put a lot of pressure on [Ford] and he did his best to deliver,” Knowles said. “We haven’t put that kind of pressure on Ben. We say ‘make these throws and if they’re not there, throw it away. Live for another play.’”

Ganter’s football pedigree speaks for itself. His father Fran Ganter is the associate athletic director for football administration at Penn State after having served as the longtime offensive coordinator for Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno. The State College, Pa., native has been described as a good decision-maker and a strong-armed pocket passer.

“I like getting thrown to by Ben,” said senior wide receiver Bryan Walters. I’ve lived with him every year since sophomore year so it’s kind of fun having that roommate connection there. He’s got a cannon, just a rocket arm.”

Ganter, 6-2, 205 pounds, saw limited action in eight games over the past two seasons, completing 20 passes in 45 attempts for 169 yards and one touchdown. Tomorrow’s game against Bucknell will mark his second career start. Now that he has finally been tapped as the Red’s signal caller, he is not going to let nerves get in the way.

“I am not too nervous,” Ganter said. “I’ve been with these guys for a long time, so I still feel comfortable even though I haven’t started a game for two years. … I’ve learned a lot from Nate [whether we were] watching film or playing an actual game. If he would be hurt and I would go in for him, he’d still be helping me on the sidelines, telling me what he saw in the coverages and that type of stuff.”

Ganter’s backup will be freshman Chris Amrhein. Similar to last year, the Red will also utilize senior wide receiver Stephen Liuzza’s versatility as a change of pace when the offense employs its version of the wildcat formation.

The biggest difference from last season has been practice for Ganter. The quarterback notes the increase in repetitions has steadily prepared him for game time. However, when the Cornell offense takes the field this season, Ganter will have a deep arsenal of downfield threats, including Walters, Cornell’s second all-time leader in all-purpose yards, seniors Horatio Blackman and Liuzza, and sophomore Shane Savage.

“We have awesome wide outs and a good running game, so that really helps me to be just a pocket passer,” Ganter said. “All I have to do is spread it out to those guys and they make the big play.”