ITHACA, N.Y. – The Big Red sprint football program will begin its season Saturday afternoon at Mansfield University at 1 p.m., taking on the Mountaineers for the seventh time in its history. Cornell is a perfect 6-0 in the teams' previous meetings.

Terry Cullen, the Terry Cullen Head Coach of Sprint Football, begins his 45th year with the Cornell program. Bart Guccia, the team's co-head coach, is starting his fifth year with the Big Red and his fourth year as the co-head coach.

The Big Red and Mountaineers met twice last season, with Cornell putting away a 23-15 victory with two fourth quarter touchdowns. Mansfield scored with 10 seconds left to make the final score closer than it really was. In the teams' second contest last year, the Big Red handily won 45-14.

Cornell returns 13 starters from last year's squad including leading rusher Douglas Famularo. Famularo was second in the CSFL last season with 645 rushing yards, and he returns for his senior season looking to improve on his rushing yards and four touchdowns from 2010. Junior Brendan Bruno, third on the team in rushing last season, also returns. Overall, the Big Red outrushed opponents 1,107 yards to 436 while dominating time of possession on average 33:35 to 25:12.

The quarterback position sees turnover this year, as last season's signal-caller, Corey Elliot, graduated in 2011. Elliot threw for six touchdowns and ran for three more in his final season for the Big Red. Sophomore Brendan Miller, the backup from the 2010 campaign, played in six games and completed 21 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns.

Miller and company will have plenty of help from the wide receivers, as leading wideout Spenser Gruenenfelder remains on the roster for 2011. Gruenenfelder, a junior, was the top receiver in the CSFL last year, catching 36 passes for 463 yards and four touchdowns. Senior Timothy Bruhn, who was second on the team with 174 receiving yards in 2010, also returns to bolster the receiving corps as a tight end. Abe Mellinger, a senior transfer from Junianta College, is a new addition to the team this year.

On the offensive line, senior George Gomez returns as the Big Red's center. Left tackle Zach Semenetz and right tackle Mike Porta also played last year. Guards Greg Zalevsky and Pat Sipple are new to starting.

The Cornell kicking game took a hit with the graduation of Alex Perilstein. Perilstein made 14 of 20 field goal attempts last season along with 10 of 11 point-after attempts. Replacing Perilstein will be John Rodriguez, a sophomore who did not attempt a field goal or point-after try last season. Chase Funderburk will handle punting duties.

The biggest losses for Cornell come on the defensive side. Of the top six tacklers, only linebacker Timothy Dooley is back this season. Dooley, who was second on the team last year with 48 tackles and also added two sacks, is expected to take on a bigger leadership role on defense. Linebacker Colin Lounsbery, who racked up 15 tackles in 2010, is the team's next leading returning tackler, though he will be playing defensive end this year.

The defensive line of sophomore Kyle Higgins, junior Chris Leyen and junior Will Edmonds will help Lounsberry attack the opposing quarterback. The linebackers, outside of Dooley, are made up of sophomore John Kelder, freshman Michael Monahan and junior Riley Scott.

Junior defensive back Jim Barger, who tied for a team high with two interceptions last season, also returns to start at cornerback. Junior Chris Fieschko will be playing free safety, and senior Matt Rosenthal will handle the other cornerback position.

Missing from the 2010 season will be leading tackler Clayton Hemminger, who had 52 tackles and a team-high 3.5 sacks. Other top defensive players, including defensive lineman Kevin Schmidt (37 tackles), defensive back John Mackintosh (30), linebacker Ted Alexander (29) and defensive end Joseph Bright (24) all graduated last year.

Saturday's game will be the first of two clashes between the sides this season, though this is the one that will count toward the CSFL standings. Cornell and Mansfield will renew their rivalry on Nov. 4 in Ithaca at 7 p.m.

Cornell plays its first home game of the year on Friday against Post University at 7 p.m.