Nov. 12, 2002
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The Game: Johns Hopkins (7-2, 4-1 CC) hosts McDaniel (8-1, 5-0) in the regular season finale for both teams. Kickoff at Homewood Field is scheduled for 1:00 pm.
The Teams: Johns Hopkins won its second straight game with a 40-21 victory on the road at F&M last Saturday. McDaniel ran its winning streak to eight games with a 28-17 win at Bethany last weekend.
Milestone: Johns Hopkins picked up its 400th all-time victory with the win over Ursinus on October 12. The Blue Jays are 402-448-57 (.475) in their history.
Record-Tying Victory: Johns Hopkins tied the school record for wins in a season with last week's 40-21 win at F&M. The Blue Jays' seven wins this season tie the school record which had been set eight times previously. Of Johns Hopkins' nine seven-win seasons (2002, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1981, 1968, 1959, 1948, 1891), four have come under head coach Jim Margraff in the last seven years.
Title Talk: Three teams enter this week's action with a chance to win the Centennial Conference title outright (McDaniel) or share the title (Johns Hopkins, Muhlenberg). The scenarios for each are quite simple:
McDaniel: Wins its sixth consecutive Centennial Championship (fifth outright, one shared) with a win over Johns Hopkins. The Green Terror can do no worse than a share of the title.
Johns Hopkins: Grabs a share of its first-ever Centennial title with a win over McDaniel. The Blue Jays can finish in a tie for first with McDaniel and Muhlenberg, or finish third. They can not finish second.
Muhlenberg: The Mules have already completed their conference schedule. Muhlenberg gets a share of a second straight Centennial title with a Johns Hopkins win over McDaniel. MC finishes second if the Green Terror beat the Blue Jays.
Playoff Talk: A win by McDaniel over Johns Hopkins would send the Green Terror to the NCAA Playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. A win by Johns Hopkins over McDaniel would force a three-way tie for the conference title and the Centennial Conference's automatic bid would go to one of the three teams based on a formula measuring strength of schedule.
The Coach: Johns Hopkins is coached by Jim Margraff (JHU `82), who is now in his 13th season as the head coach at Homewood. With the season-opening win over Washington & Lee in 2001, Margraff became the all-time winningest coach in school history and he now sports an overall record of 73-52-3 (.582). The previous record for wins by a Johns Hopkins football coach was 60 by Ray Van Orman (1920-35).
Margraff has guided the Blue Jays to a school-record-tying seven wins in 1996, 1997,1998 and again this season. Margraff's .582 winning percentage is second among JHU coaches who have coached 30 or more games.
With the win over Ursinus earlier this year, Margraff also became just the third coach in the history of the Centennial Conference to amass 50 league victories. He ranks third all-time in CC wins (52-34-2) and sixth in all-time CC winning % (.602).
Cradle of Coaches: Jim Margraff is one of eight active Johns Hopkins head coaches who rank as the all-time winningest coach in school history in their respective sport.
In addition to Margraff, Bob Babb (baseball), Nancy Funk (women's basketball), George Kennedy (women's swimming), Bill Nelson (men's basketball), Dick Oles (men's fencing), Matt Smith (men's soccer) and Leo Weil (women's soccer) all rank as the winningest coach in their sport's history at JHU.
Margraff's Resurrection: Since taking over as the head coach prior to the 1990 season, Jim Margraff has guided JHU to nine winning seasons (including this year) and 73 wins. The 73 wins are seven more than Hopkins accumulated in the previous 18 years combined (1972-89). During that time, Hopkins posted six winning seasons and won 66 games.
Series Notes:
* JHU leads the all-time series, 40-35-5.
* Hopkins pulled off a stunning, 21-14 win at ninth-ranked Western Maryland last season to snap the Green Terror's 33-game Centennial winning streak.
* Since the formation of the Centennial Conference in 1983, Hopkins leads the all-time series vs. the Green Terror, 12-6-1. The 12 wins are the most for Hopkins against any team in that time.
* Johns Hopkins and McDaniel have met every year since 1947 except 1963 (game was postponed after President Kennedy's assassination).
And They Shall Lead Us: The Blue Jays selected three players to serve as team captains for the 2002 season. Senior DL Pat Doyle (Wilkes Barre, PA/Bishop Hoban), senior OL Kevin Kostibos (Florham Park, NJ/Hanover Park) and senior LB Mike Little (Red Bank, NJ/Middletown South).
Star Quality: Hopkins returns three players who earned All-Centennial honors last season. Senior center Kevin Kostibos (Florham Park, NJ/Hanover Park) garnered First Team All-CC status, while senior DL Pat Doyle (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Bishop Hoban) earned Second Team All-CC honors. In addition, senior OL Leif Glynn (Croton, NY/Croton-Harmon) was named an Honorable Mention All-CC performer.
It's All Academic: Senior OL Brian Williams (Katy, TX/Strake Jesuit) and junior DL Paul Smith (Lafayette, NJ/Sparta) were both named to the 2001 Verizon District II Academic All-America Team.
More Pass Protection: Johns Hopkins became the first NCAA Division III team since 1980 to not allow a touchdown pass in an entire season when the Blue Jays turned the trick last season.
Streak Snapper: Washington & Lee's Peter Dean threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Taylor Callaham with 9:43 remaining in the third quarter in the season-opener vs. JHU. The TD pass was the first allowed by Johns Hopkins since the final game of the 2000 season. JHU had gone 207 consecutive pass attempts without allowing a touchdown pass.
Role Reversal: One year after leading the nation in pass efficiency defense, Johns Hopkins has become one of the more difficult teams to run against. Currently, JHU is allowing just 102.1 yards per game on the ground, which ranks second in the Centennial Conference. Among JHU's top efforts against the run this season:
Opponent Rushing Attempts-Yards
Rochester 26 rushes for 24 yards
Carnegie Mellon 38 rushes for 73 yards
Ursinus 26 rushes for 53 yards
Randolph-Macon 32 rushes for 15 yards
Franklin & Marshall 19 rushes for 63 yards
Home Sweet Home: Since the beginning of the 1996 season, Hopkins is 25-9 (.735) at home and won 10 straight at Homewood from 1996-97. Currently, JHU has won six of its last eight at home.
The Road Most Traveled: Johns Hopkins is 7-3 in its last 10 road games.
Don't Leave Early: Four of Johns Hopkins' five road games last season and two of the four this season were decided by eight points or less. Dating back to the end of the 2000 season, seven of JHU's last 10 road games have been decided by eight points or less.
Point Production: Johns Hopkins has scored 219 points this season, marking the sixth straight season the Blue Jays have scored 200 or more points. This marks the first time in school history JHU has scored 200 or more points in six straight seasons.
The 219 points the Blue Jays have scored this season rank as the 13th-highest single-season total in school history. In all, Johns Hopkins has scored 200 or more points in 15 seasons with seven of the 15 coming during the Margraff era.
