Oct. 20, 2004

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The Game: Two-time defending Centennial Conference Co-Champion Johns Hopkins (5-1, 2-1 CC) returns home after a two-game road trip to host three-time defending Centennial Conference Co-Champion Muhlenberg (5-1, 2-1)

The Teams: Both teams picked up their second straight victory last week after dropping their Centennial-openers at home. The Blue Jays knocked off Gettysburg, 37-17, while Muhlenberg defeated Ursinus, 17-3.

The Stakes Are High: While anything is possible, the loser of this game will be virtually eliminated from contention for the Centennial Conference?s automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs. The loser could still grab a share of the Centennial title, but it will be very difficult to come out on top of any tie-breakers that might come into play to determine the league representative to the NCAA Playoffs.

In the Rankings: Johns Hopkins is receiving votes in this week?s AFCA and d3football.com polls. Hopkins is also ranked sixth in this week?s ECAC Lambert Cup Poll.

Streaking: Johns Hopkins is 19-2 in its last 21 games dating back to the final four games of the 2002 season and 26-4 in its last 30 games dating back to the final two games of the 2001 season. The 26 wins are the most ever in a 30-game span for Johns Hopkins.

Seniors Tie Record: The seniors on the 2004 Johns Hopkins football team tied the school record for most wins by a class with last week?s 37-17 win at Gettysburg. The Blue Jays have posted a 30-7 (.810) record since the current senior class arrived in 2001. Last year?s senior class posted a 30-11 (.730) record from 2000-2003.

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 90-54-3 (.622). 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 .622 winning percentage is second among JHU coaches who have coached 30 or more games and the Blue Jays are 66-30-1 (.686) 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 90 wins. The 90 wins are one more than 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 Johns Hopkins is 34-10 (.773) at home and has twice enjoyed 10-game winning streaks at Homewood Field during that time. Currently the Blue Jays have won 10 of their last 11 and 16 of their last 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 15-5 in its last 20 road games. The Blue Jays were 4-1 on the road in 2002 and 2003. The Blue Jays are 12-2 in their last 14 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, 48-10 in the first quarter this season and 30-10 in the third quarter. Dating back to the beginning of last season (a span of 16 games) JHU has outscored the opposition, 101-27 in the first quarter and 114-24 in the third.

Sack Masters: In 11 games last season the Johns Hopkins defense came up with a total of 20 sacks. Through six games this season the Blue Jays already have 20 sacks to their credit. JHU had five in the season-opener against Rochester and nine in the win over Kean. Eight different players have already registered at least one sack on the year with Brian Cook leading the way with 7.0 sacks.

Caught Behind the Line: In addition to the 20 sacks the Blue Jays have already registered this season, the Blue Jay defense has also amassed 59 other tackles for losses on the year. Brian Cook leads the way with 16 tackles for losses, including his seven sacks, among his 38 tackles on the year.

In the Zone: Johns Hopkins has excelled when it has moved the ball into the red zone this season. The Blue Jays have scored on 18-of-19 (.947) trips into the red zone with 15 touchdowns and three field goals through six games. Only one other team in the CC has scored on more than 75% of its trips inside the red zone (Gettysburg / 11-of-13 (.846)).

The Possession Game: The Blue Jays had a season-high 37:08 of possession time in the win at F&M and followed that with a decisive 33:03-26:57 advantage against Gettysburg. Against 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. Against Gettysburg the Blue Jays had three scoring drives that took 3:40 or longer and two that covered 69 yards.

Keys to Success: Johns Hopkins is an impressive 56-4 (.933) under head coach Jim Margraff when scoring 24 or more points...currently, the Blue Jays have won 43 of their last 45 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.

Player Notes of Interest (Included in PDF Version)