With just over 12 minutes left to play against recent Ivy bottom dweller Dartmouth, it looked like the football team would cling to its 10-0 lead and snap a five-game losing streak. Instead, the Red allowed 114 fourth-quarter rushing yards and the Green tied it up at 10 to send the game to overtime. Two overtime periods later, Cornell kicker Brad Greenway missed a 36-yard field goal wide left and the Green took the win, 20-17.

Every time senior Bryan Walters touches the football, he breaks a record, or so it seems.

The Bothell, Wash., native holds every school kickoff and punt return record. Walters was one of the few bright spots for Cornell last week during a 34-14 defeat to Brown, as he eclipsed Chad Levitt ’96 for a school record 5,233 career all-purpose yards and moved into second place all-time in Ivy League history behind the 6,138 yard mark set by Harvard’s Clifton Dawson set in 2006. Earlier this year Walters surpassed legendary running back Ed Marinaro ’72 for all-purpose yards.

Last season, the Red had one of the best aerial attacks it has ever had. Cornell employed a wide-open offense that often featured three or more receivers. Led by quarterback Nathan Ford ’09, the Red led the league in passing yards per game with an offense that was uncharacteristically pass-happy by Ivy standards.

Four of the most prominent members of the Red’s dynamic passing game have graduated since last season’s success. Along with Ford, receivers Jesse Baker ’09, Zac Canty ’09 and Shane Kilcoyne ’09 all graduated in the spring. Baker, Canty and Kilcoyne finished first, second and fourth, respectively, in receptions last season.