Dec. 12, 2002
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The Team: The 2002 Johns Hopkins football team concluded the most successful season in school history with a 9-2 record, a share of the Centennial Conference title and the ECAC Southwest Championship.
It's a Record: The nine wins for the Blue Jays this season are a school record. Johns Hopkins broke the school record for wins in a season with its eighth of the year with the win over McDaniel. The previous school record of seven victories had been set eight times previously (1998, 1997, 1996, 1981, 1968, 1959, 1948, 1891). Jim Margraff coached the Blue Jays to three of the seven-win seasons before breaking the record this season.
It's a First: Johns Hopkins shared the 2002 Centennial Conference title with Muhlenberg and McDaniel. This was the first Centennial championship for Johns Hopkins.
More Firsts: The ECAC Southwest Championship Game victory over Frostburg marked several program firsts. This was the first post-season game in the history of Johns Hopkins football and, obviously, it was also the first post-season victory in the history of Johns Hopkins football. It was also the first time in over 100 years that a Johns Hopkins football team played 11 games in a season (1888).
State Champions: Johns Hopkins defeated Frostburg State in the ECAC Southwest Championship for the unofficial Division III Maryland State Championship. In the final games of the regular season, Hopkins defeated McDaniel and Frostburg defeated Salisbury in the "semifinals." Johns Hopkins, Frostburg, McDaniel and Salisbury are the only four NCAA Division III football teams in the state of Maryland.
Pulling Rank: The American Football Coaches Association issued its first poll of the year on September 17 and the Blue Jays picked up 22 votes. Hopkins received votes in the poll for six consecutive weeks before falling out for three straight weeks. JHU did receive two votes in the final regular-season poll.
The High Point: Johns Hopkins was ranked 26th in the nation in the AFCA Poll that was released on October 15. This is the highest a Johns Hopkins football team has ever been ranked.
Milestone: Johns Hopkins picked up its 400th all-time victory with the win over Ursinus on October 12. The Blue Jays are 404-448-57 (.476) in their history.
Quick Starts: Johns Hopkins won its first five games for the first time since 1931, when the Blue Jays actually began the season by winning six straight.
The Coach: Johns Hopkins is coached by Jim Margraff (JHU `82), who completed 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 75-52-3 (.588). The previous record for wins by a Johns Hopkins football coach was 60 by Ray Van Orman (1920-35).
Margraff guided the Blue Jays to a then-school-record-tying seven wins in 1996, 1997,1998 before leading the Blue Jays to their first-ever playoff appearance (and victory), first-ever Centennial Conference title and a school-record nine wins this season. Margraff's .588 winning percentage is second among JHU coaches who have coached 30 or more games and the Blue Jays are 51-28-1 (.644) since the beginning of the 1995 season.
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 (53-34-2) and sixth in all-time CC winning % (.607).
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 75 wins. The 75 wins are three more than Hopkins accumulated in the previous 19 years combined (1971-89). During that time, Hopkins posted eight winning seasons and won 72 games.
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: Johns Hopkins placed 12 players on the 2002 All-Centennial Football Team, which was announced on Monday, November 18.
The 12 Centennial All-Stars for the Blue Jays are a school record. The previous record of 11 was set in 1997 and matched in 2001. Hopkins had 10 players earn All-Centennial honors in 1993 and 1998.
Among the 12 players selected were five who earned First Team All-CC status, two who earned second team and five more who earned honorable mention. The five First Team All-Centennial selections is one shy of the school record of six set originally in 1991 and matched in 1995.
Below is a list of the Johns Hopkins players who garnered All-Centennial honors in 2002.
JHU's 2002 Centennial All-Stars
Name Position Team Hometown/High School Notes
Kevin Kostibos OL 1st Team Florham Park, NJ/Hanover Park 1st Team in `01 / 2nd Team in `00
Pat Doyle DL 1st Team Wilkes Barre, PA/Bishop Hoban 2nd Team in `01
Leif Glynn OL 1st Team Croton, NY/Croton-Harmon HM in `01
Mike Little LB 1st Team Red Bank, NJ/Middletown South 1st All-CC selection
Matt Campbell DB 1st Team Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough Only soph. on 1st Team defense
Paul Longo LB 2nd Team Kensington, MD/Bethesda-Chevy Chase Verizon District II AAA
Chris Smolyn PK 2nd Team Randolph, NJ/Lenape Valley 1st year as JHU's PK
Brian Williams OL Hon. Men. Katy, TX/Strake Jesuit Verizon District II AAA
Brian Wolcott WR Hon. Men. Harding, PA/Wyoming Area CC-best 19.3 ypr.
T.J. Lyons RB Hon. Men. Paramus, NJ/Paramus Only frosh. to earn All-CC
Nick Loiacono DL Hon. Men. Tappan, NY/Tappan Zee 2nd Team in `00
Mark Robinson DB Hon. Men. Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills Didn't start until 4th game
It's All Academic-I: Senior OL Brian Williams (Katy, TX/Strake Jesuit), junior DL Paul Smith (Lafayette, NJ/Sparta), senior OL John Tiberi (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA/Chadwick) and junior LB Paul Longo (Kensington, MD/Bethesda-Chevy Chase) were all named to the 2002 Verizon District II Academic All-America Team. Johns Hopkins' four selections were one more than the rest of the Centennial Conference teams had combined and no other school had more than two players named to the team.
It All Academic-II: Johns Hopkins placed a league-high five players on the 2002 Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll. Those honored included junior LB Paul Longo (Kensington, MD/Bethesda-Chevy Chase), junior DB Jonas Nelson (York, PA/Spring Grove), junior LB Matt Taylor (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich), senior OL Brian Williams (Katy, TX/Strake Jesuit) and senior OL John Tiberi (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA/Chadwick).
Role Reversal: One year after leading the nation in pass efficiency defense, Johns Hopkins became one of the more difficult teams to run against. Johns Hopkins allowed just 95.6 yards per game on the ground this season and opponents averaged just 2.8 yards per rushing attempt. The Blue Jays finished second in the Centennial Conference in rushing defense. 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
#15 McDaniel 33 rushes for 80 yards
Frostburg 23 rushes for 53 yards
Home Sweet Home: Since the beginning of the 1996 season, Hopkins is 26-9 (.743) at home and won 10 straight at Homewood from 1996-97. Currently, JHU has won eight of its last 10 at home and the Blue Jays were 5-1 at home this season.
The Road Most Traveled: Johns Hopkins is 8-3 in its last 11 road games. The Blue Jays were 4-1 on the road this season.
Don't Leave Early: Four of Johns Hopkins' five road games last season and three of the five this season were decided by eight points or less. Dating back to the end of the 2000 season, eight of JHU's last 11 road games have been decided by eight points or less.
Point Production: Johns Hopkins scored 270 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 270 points the Blue Jays scored this season are the third-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.
Taking the Long Road: JHU put together numerous impressive scoring drives in 11 games. In fact, JHU had at least two scoring drives that covered 51 or more yards in 10 of 11 games this season.
In addition to drives that have covered at least half the field, the Blue Jays have also held onto the ball for extended periods of time on scoring drives as well. The Blue Jays had 16 scoring drives that took at least 4:00 off the clock, including 11 in a four-game stretch early in the season.
For additional information, please open the PDF version, which includes player summaries.
