Sept. 3, 2003
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The Game: The Johns Hopkins football team opens the 2003 season at the University of Rochester. Game time at UR's Edwin Fauver Stadium is scheduled for noon on Saturday, Sept. 6.
The Teams: 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. Rochester posted a 2-8 record in 2002, but won its season-finale, 39-35 over Carnegie Mellon.
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).
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.
Season-Openers: This is the earliest game in Johns Hopkins football history. The Blue Jays have won five of their last six season-openers (all six vs. Washington & Lee).
Quick Starts: Johns Hopkins was 3-0 in September last season and is 9-1 in its last 10 games in the month of September dating back to the 2000 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.
Strong Finish: Johns Hopkins enters the 2003 season riding the crest of a four-game winning streak.
The Coach: Johns Hopkins is coached by Jim Margraff (JHU `82), who is entering 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 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 in 2002. 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.
Cradle of Coaches: Jim Margraff is one of seven 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), 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 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 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.
Star Quality: Johns Hopkins placed 12 players on the 2002 All-Centennial Football Team and five of those players return for the 2003 season.
Junior safety Matt Campbell is Hopkins' only returning First Team All-CC selection, while senior LB Paul Longo and senior PK Chris Smolyn return after garnering second team honors.
Rounding out JHU's returning CC All-Stars are junior WR Brian Wolcott and sophomore RB T.J. Lyons, who both garnered Honorable Mention All-CC status.
The 12 Centennial All-Stars for the Blue Jays in 2002 were a school record, while the five First Team All-CC picks were one shy of the school record.
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 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 in 2002.
The Road Most Traveled: Johns Hopkins is 8-3 in its last 11 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 11 road games have been decided by eight points or less.
Player Notes of Interest (Included in PDF Version Only)
