Sept. 15, 2003

BALTIMORE, Md. -- Johns Hopkins senior quarterback George Merrell (Bloomsburg, PA/Central Columbia) has been named the Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts in Johns Hopkins' 36-7 win over Washington & Lee last Saturday, it was announced today. Merrell is the second consecutive Johns Hopkins player to earn the award as junior wide receiver Brian Wolcott shared the honor last week.

Merrell was 16-for-29 for a career-high 228 yards and three touchdowns in the win over the Generals. He also rushed for a career-high 78 yards in the victory and his 306 yards of total offense were also a personal best. His previous career highs of 220 yards passing and 272 all-purpose yards had come just a week earlier in a 27-9 win over Rochester in the season-opener. His previous rushing high was a 62-yard effort against Franklin & Marshall last season.

Merrell currently ranks first in the Centennial Conference in total offense (289.0 yards per game), passing yards per game (224.0) and pass efficiency (158.65). He also ranks fifth in the league in rushing yards per game (65.0) and his 7.2 yards per rush is the highest among the top 10 rushers in the league. Merrell's six touchdown passes are also the most of any quarterback in the league and no other quarterback in the Centennial Conference has thrown more than three touchdown passes through two games.

Merrell and the Blue Jays have been on a roll dating back to last season. In the last five games, Merrell has accounted for 15 touchdowns overall (11 passing / 4 rushing). In each of those five games he has accounted for three TDs. Merrell has started each of the last five games and six games total since the beginning of the 2002 season. Johns Hopkins is 6-0 in the six games he has started in that span and the Blue Jays have averaged 30.3 points in those six games.

Johns Hopkins (2-0) will carry a six-game winning streak into this Saturday's game against Randolph-Macon (0-2). The six-game winning streak is the longest active winning streak in the Centennial Conference and the longest active winning streak by a college football team in the state of Maryland. The six-game winning streak is also one shy of the school-record for consecutive victories. Johns Hopkins has won seven straight on four different occasions. The most recent seven-game winning streak covered the final two games of the 2001 season and the first five games of the 2002 season.

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