Like Brown and Columbia – not to mention Dartmouth and Yale – Cornell returns its starting quarterback, and he's a big one. Literally.
Stuck for his first two years behind Jameson Wang before breaking out in Week 3 last year, Garrett Bass-Sulpizio is a 6-foot-5, 231-pound senior who completed 64.4 percent of his attempts on the season. His best showing was a 37-for-45 (82.2 percent) outing against Dartmouth when he threw for 328 yards. Not just a passer, he ran for 91 yards against Colgate and was the first Big Red player to run for a score in seven consecutive games since the legendary Ed Marinaro in 1971.
The second-year starter welcomes back his security blanked in All-America tight end Ryder Kurtz, who caught 44 passes for 523 yards last fall, with nine catches for 91 yards against the Big Green. Cornell's passing attack will be bolstered in a big way by the return after being lost last year to injury of wide receiver Samuel Musungu, a breakout starin 2024 when he was second in the nation with 83 catches for 960 yards and 10 touchdowns. Musungu was the Phil Steele Ivy League preseason Offensive Player of the Year this summer.
Swiss Army knife Brendan Lee also returns after catching 46 passes over the past two years while also contributing in the run and return games.
Air Force Academy transfer Jordan Triplett didn't play until seeing minimal action in Week 4 last year but came on to run for 454 yards and five touchdowns to lead the ground game. He also caught 14 passes for 145 yards.
Now for the rub.
Under former coach David Archer, Cornell struggled to build an effective offensive line. Now it's up to third-year coach Dan Swanstrom to rebuild a unit that graduated standout Kevin Ma, and has just two part-time starters returning.
Defensively, Cornell had three players earn second-team All-Ivy honors last year and all three have graduated, leaving big holes on the line, at linebacker and in the secondary.
With last year's five top tacklers all moving on, safety Johnny Williamson, who had 39 stops with five pass breakups is the leading tackler returning. Corner Braylon Howard is also back after posting 36 tackles a year ago.
Two starting linebackers used up their Ivy League eligibility last year while Keith Williams entered the portal after making 64 stops last fall as a sophomore.
Tommy Ducker, listed last year as a nose guard despite weighing just 238 pounds, had 22 tackles with two quarterback hurries last fall. The rest of the line is still in question.
Three players shared field goal kicking almost equally last year and the three who were a combined 9-for-11 all return, although the long was just 37 yards. Punter Will Buck will be back was well after averaging 39.4 yards a year ago.
