Oct. 13, 2004
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The Game: Johns Hopkins (4-1, 1-1 CC) makes its second consecutive trip to central Pennsylvania as the Blue Jays travel to Gettysburg (0-5, 0-1 CC).
The Teams: Johns Hopkins got back on the winning track with a 20-14 win at Franklin & Marshall last Saturday. The Bullets lost for the eighth straight time dating back to last season as they fell, 31-0 at McDaniel.
In the Rankings: Johns Hopkins is receiving votes in this week?s AFCA and d3football.com polls.
Streaking: JHU is 18-2 in its last 20 games dating back to the final four games of the 2002 season. This is the first time in school history that Johns Hopkins has ever won 18 games in a 20-game span.
25-of-29: Johns Hopkins is 25-4 in its last 29 games dating back to the final two games of the 2001 season. A win against Gettysburg would give JHU 26 wins in a 30-game span for the first time in school history. Prior to this run the Blue Jays had never won more than 24 games in any 30-game span in school history.
The Coach: Johns Hopkins is coached by Jim Margraff (JHU ?82), who is in his 15th 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 89-54-3 (.620). 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. He topped that last season as JHU posted a 10-1 record with Centennial and ECAC South Atlantic Championships. Margraff?s .620 winning percentage is second among JHU coaches who have coached 30 or more games and the Blue Jays are 65-30-1 (.682) since the beginning of the 1995 season.
Margraff?s Resurrection: Since taking over as the head coach prior to the 1990 season, Jim Margraff has guided JHU to 10 winning seasons and 89 wins. The 89 wins are as many as Hopkins accumulated in the previous 22 years combined (1968-89). During that time, Hopkins posted 11 winning seasons and won 89 games.
Home Sweet Home: Since the beginning of the 1996 season, Hopkins is 34-10 (.773) at home and has a pair of 10-game home winning streaks to its credit (1996-97 & 2002-04). Under head coach Jim Margraff the Blue Jays are 53-18-2 (.740) at home and JHU has won 10 of its last 11 and 16 of 19 at home.
More Home Sweet Home: During their last 11 home games the Blue Jays have outscored the opposition, 323-116.
The Road Most Traveled: Johns Hopkins is 14-5 in its last 19 road games. The Blue Jays were 4-1 on the road in 2002 and 2003. The Blue Jays are 11-2 in their last 13 road games since dropping back-to-back road tilts late in the 2001 season.
It?s All in the Speech: There must be something to what head coach Jim Margraff says in the locker room before the Blue Jays take the field. Hopkins has outscored the opposition, 41-10 in the first quarter this season and 17-10 in the third quarter. Dating back to the beginning of last season (a span of 15 games) JHU has outscored the opposition, 94-27 in the first quarter and 101-24 in the third.
Sack Masters: In 11 games last season the Johns Hopkins defense came up with a total of 20 sacks. Through five games this season the Blue Jays already have 18 sacks to their credit (JHU ranks second in the Centennial Conference with its 18 sacks). JHU had five in the season-opener against Rochester and nine in the win over Carnegie Mellon. Eight different players have already registered at least one sack on the year with Brian Cook leading the way with 5.0. Last season Alan Cody led the Blue Jays with 3.5 sacks.
Caught Behind the Line: In addition to the 18 sacks the Blue Jays have already registered this season, the Blue Jay defense has also amassed 49 other tackles for losses on the year. Brian Cook leads the way with 13 tackles for losses, including his five sacks, among his 32 stops on the year. Cook?s 13 tackles for losses have resulted in a loss of 55 yards for the opposition.
In the Zone: Johns Hopkins has excelled when its has worked its way into the red zone. The Blue Jays have scored on 13-of-14 (92.9 %) trips inside the opposition?s 20-yard line this season. Among the 13 scores are 10 touchdowns and three field goals. No other team in the Centennial Conference has scored on more than 80% of its trips into the red zone.
Going the Distance: The Blue Jays had a season-high 37:08 of possession time in last week?s win at F&M. The Blue Jays scored all 20 of their points on four straight possessions in the first half and all four of the drives covered at last 51 yards. Three of the four drives included at least 10 plays. Amazingly JHU had at least 8:09 of possession in all four quarters.
Keys to Success: Johns Hopkins is an impressive 55-4 (.932) under head coach Jim Margraff when scoring 24 or more points...currently, the Blue Jays have won 42 of their last 44 when scoring 24 or more...at the same time, Hopkins is 61-9-2 (.861) when holding the opposition to 14 points or less since Margraff arrived for the 1990 season...the Blue Jays have won 26 of their last 27 games when holding the opposition to 14 points or less.
And They Shall Lead Us: The Blue Jays selected three players to serve as team captains for the 2004 season: senior DB Matt Campbell (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough), senior RB Adam Cook (New Freedom, PA/Susquehannock) and senior OL Matt Weeks (Landisville, PA/Hempfield).
Player Notes of Interest (Included in PDF Version)
