Sept. 17, 2003
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The Game: Johns Hopkins (2-0) puts its six-game winning streak on the line as the Blue Jays host Randolph-Macon (0-2).
The Teams: Johns Hopkins improved to 2-0 on the year and ran its winning streak to six games with a 36-7 win over Washington & Lee. The Yellow Jackets slipped to 0-2 and dropped their fourth straight dating back to last season with a 45-7 loss at home against Waynesburg.
In Case You Forgot: The last team to beat Johns Hopkins was Randolph-Macon, which slipped past the Blue Jays, 17-12 last October 26 in Ashland, Virginia.
It's a Record: The nine wins for the Blue Jays last 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 in 2002.
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 last season 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).
In the Rankings: Johns Hopkins is ranked 27th in this week's AFCA Division III Poll. This is the first poll of the 2003 season and this is the second-highest ranking in school history. JHU received 85 points in this week's poll (see page 5).
The High Point: Johns Hopkins was ranked 26th in the nation in the AFCA Poll that was released on October 15, 2002. This is the highest a Johns Hopkins football team has ever been ranked. The Blue Jays received 34 points in the final AFCA Poll of the 2002 season and were tied for 32nd in the final rankings.
Quick Starts: Johns Hopkins is 11-1 in its last 12 games in the month of September. The Blue Jays have lost just two games at home in the month of September since the beginning of the 1996 season.
More Quick Starts: Johns Hopkins' 5-0 start last season was the best for a JHU football team since 1931, when the Blue Jays opened the season with six straight wins.
Streaking: Dating back to last season, Johns Hopkins has won six straight games. This is the longest active winning streak in the Centennial Conference and the longest active winning streak in the state of Maryland. The six-game run is also tied for the second-longest winning streak in school history. JHU has won seven games in a row on four different occasions. The four, seven-game streaks are listed below.
1892 Games 1 through 7
1948-49 Game 4, 1948 through Game 2, 1949
1959-60 Game 5, 1959 through Game 3, 1960
2001-02 Game 8, 2001 through Game 5, 2002
More Streaking: Johns Hopkins is 11-2 since the beginning of the 2002 season, 13-2 in its last 15 games dating back to the end of the 2001 season and 17-5 since the beginning of the 2001 season. The 13-2 record over the last 15 games is the best 15-game run in school history.
The Coaches: Johns Hopkins is coached by Jim Margraff (JHU `82), who is in his 14th 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 77-52-3 (.595). 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 and 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 in 2002. Margraff's .595 winning percentage is second among JHU coaches who have coached 30 or more games and the Blue Jays are 53-28-1 (.652) since the beginning of the 1995 season.
Scott Boone is in his seventh season as the head coach at Randolph-Macon. He boasts a 33-29 (.532) record at RMC and ranks fourth on the school's all-time coaching victories list. In 1997, he guided the `Jackets to a share of the ODAC Championship.
Margraff's Resurrection: Since taking over as the head coach prior to the 1990 season, Jim Margraff has guided JHU to nine winning seasons and 77 wins. The 77 wins are five 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 two players to serve as team captains for the 2003 season: senior DL Paul Smith (Lafayette, NJ/Sparta) and senior LB Paul Longo (Kensington, MD/Bethesda-Chevy Chase). Smith and Longo were two of JHU's four Verizon District II Academic All-Americans last season.
It's All Academic: Johns Hopkins had four players earn Verizon District II Academic All-America honors (current senior captains Paul Smith and Paul Longo and the now-graduated Brian Williams and John Tiberi). The four selections were one more than the rest of the Centennial Conference teams had combined and no other school in the district had more than two players named to the team.
Home Sweet Home: Since the beginning of the 1996 season, Hopkins is 27-9 (.750) at home and won 10 straight at Homewood from 1996-97. Currently, JHU has won nine of its last 11 at home and the Blue Jays were 5-1 at home in 2002.
The Road Most Traveled: Johns Hopkins is 9-3 in its last 12 road games. The Blue Jays were 4-1 on the road in 2002.
Don't Leave Early: Four of Johns Hopkins' five road games in 2001 and three of the five in 2002 were decided by eight points or less. Dating back to the end of the 2000 season, eight of JHU's last 12 road games have been decided by eight points or less.
Comeback Kids: The Blue Jays trailed 3-0 at halftime against Rochester in the season-opener. Of Hopkins' last 12 wins (dating back to the 2001 season-finale), six have been of the come-from-behind variety.
Third Down The Key: Some statistics can tell the whole story of a football game. One of those is third-down conversions. After two games, Hopkins leads the Centennial Conference in third-down conversion percentage (13-of-27/.481) and opponent third-down conversion percentage (5-of-32/.156).
Going the Distance: Last season, JHU had 28 scoring drives that covered 51 yards or more. Against Rochester, the Blue Jays had scoring drives of 66 and 69 yards and against W&L the Blue Jays had scoring drives of 69, 77, 79 and 55 yards.
Offense Reaches the Half-Century Mark: Johns Hopkins out-gained Washington & Lee, 508-174 in the 36-7 win last Saturday. This marks the first time the Blue Jays have amassed 500 or more yards of total offense since November 3, 2001, when JHU had 511 in a 41-0 win over F&M.
It's Been a While: The 174 yards the Blue Jays surrendered to Washington & Lee were the fewest Hopkins has allowed since holding Franklin & Marshall to 138 on November 3, 2001. During the 2001 season, the Blue Jay defense held four of its nine opponents to 164 yards or less.
Quick Strike Attack: The Blue Jays' three scoring drives against UR averaged five plays took an average of just 1:45 off the clock. Against W&L the Blue Jays had a 77-yard scoring drive that took just 1:20 and a 40-yard drive that took just 1:17.
Team Notes of Interest: Johns Hopkins is an impressive 47-4 (.922) under Margraff when scoring 24 or more points...currently, the Blue Jays have won 34 of their last 36 when scoring 24 or more...at the same time, Hopkins is 52-8-2 (.855) when holding the opposition to 14 points or less since Margraff arrived for the 1990 season...the last time JHU lost a game when it held the opposition to 14 points or less was on October 31, 1997, when the Blue Jays dropped a 13-7 triple-overtime decision against Dickinson... currently, the Blue Jays have won 18 straight games when holding the opposition to 14 points or less.
Player Notes of Interest (Included in PDF Version)
