Oct. 5, 2005
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The Game: Johns Hopkins returns to Homewood Field for the first time since September 10th as the Blue Jays host Franklin & Marshall in a key Centennial Conference showdown. The Blue Jays (4-0, 1-0 Centennial), who are ranked 22nd in this week's AFCA Division III Coaches Poll, ran their overall winning streak to eight games with a 35-14 win at Dickinson last Saturday, while the Diplomats evened their record at 2-2 overall (1-0 CC) with a hard-fought, 15-9 win over Muhlenberg. The JHU-F&M game is one of two in the Centennial that pits teams without a league loss against each other. McDaniel (4-0, 1-0 CC) and Gettysburg (1-3, 0-0) square off in Gettysburg, ensuring that there will be just two teams in the league that will be undefeated in Centennial play after Saturday.
The Teams: Johns Hopkins posted a 9-2 record, claimed a share of a third straight Centennial Conference Championship and won the ECAC Southeast title in 2004. Franklin & Marshall posted an 8-3 record, shared the Centennial Conference Championship and won the ECAC Southwest title last season.
Series History: This week's game is the 57th in the series between Johns Hopkins and Franklin & Marshall. The two teams first met in 1912 and have met every year since 1948 except two (1980 and 1981). The series has been one of the streakiest in the history of Hopkins football as both teams have taken turns dominating the head-to-head matchup. The Blue Jays have currently won eight straight in the series and are 11-4 against the Diplomats under head coach Jim Margraff. During the current eight-game winning streak the Blue Jays have scored 30 or more points six times and have won five times by 14 points or more. Prior to this run F&M had won 17 straight in the series from 1971 through 1989, a string that followed an 8-4-1 stretch for Hopkins from 1958-1970. F&M won seven of eight to start the series as the Dips were 7-0-1 in the initial eight meetings.
Title Time: From 1969-2001 the Johns Hopkins football team did not win a title of any kind. In the last three years the Blue Jays have grabbed a share of three straight Centennial Conference titles and won three ECAC Championships (ECAC Southwest-2002, ECAC South Atlantic-2003, ECAC Southeast-2004).
Streaking: Johns Hopkins is 23-3 in its last 26 games (since the beginning of the 2003 season), 32-5 in its last 37 games (since the beginning of the 2002 season) and 38-8 in its last 46 games (since the beginning of the 2001 season). These records represent the most victories ever by a JHU football team over those number of games.
Non-Conference Roll: The 9-6 win over CMU extended JHU's winning streak in non-conference games to 13 games. The Blue Jays last dropped a non-conference game on October 26, 2002 at Randolph-Macon (17-12).
Home Sweet Home: Since the beginning of the 1996 season Johns Hopkins is 37-10 (.787) at home and has twice enjoyed 10-game winning streaks at Homewood Field during that time. Currently, the Blue Jays have won 14 of their last 16 and 20 of their last 24 at home.
Road Warriors: The win over Dickinson was JHU's eighth straight victory away from Homewood Field and 16th win in its last 18 road games. The eight-game road winning streak is the longest in school history. Johns Hopkins previously had a seven-game road winning streak from 1967-69.
Comeback Kids: The come-from-behind win over Rochester was dramatic in that it ended with Ben Scott's 37-yard field goal with just one second remaining in the fourth quarter, but Jim Margraff-coached teams have excelled in this situation throughout his career. The Blue Jays came from behind to win six times last season, erasing 14-point deficits in wins against Ursinus and Waynesburg (twice).
Last Second Heroics: Prior to this season the last time the Blue Jays came from behind to win in the final minute was in 1997, when Adam Gentile scored on an eight-yard touchdown run with 33 seconds remaining to beat Muhlenberg, 24-21. Ben Scott provided the heroics with a 37-yard field goal with one-second remaining against Rochester. Scott went one better in the win over Carnegie Mellon as he snapped a 6-6 tie with a 24-yard field goal as time expired to lift Hopkins to a 9-6 win.
Seven's Heaven: For all the different numbers and statistics that can be applied to the Johns Hopkins football team, there has been one simple way to measure the success of the Blue Jays recently. Since the beginning of the 2003 season the Blue Jays are 23-0 when scoring more than seven points and 0-3 when they have been held to seven points or less.
Keys to Success: Johns Hopkins is an impressive 60-4 (.938) under head coach Jim Margraff when scoring 24 or more points...currently, the Blue Jays have won 47 of their last 49 when scoring 24 or more...at the same time, Hopkins is 67-10-2 (.861) when holding the opposition to 14 points or less since Margraff arrived for the 1990 season...the Blue Jays have won 31 of their last 33 games when holding the opposition to 14 points or less.
Defense Picks Up Where it Left Off: A trademark of the Johns Hopkins football team is a solid defense. Despite several key injuries the Blue Jays have continued that trend as they rank first in the Centennial Conference in scoring defense (6.8 ppg), total defense (215.5 ypg), rushing defense (112.5 ypg), pass defense (103.0 ypg) and pass efficiency defense (73.9 rating). The Blue Jays rank third in the nation in pass efficiency defense, fourth in scoring defense and seventh in total defense.
More Defense: Johns Hopkins got a 31-yard fumble return for a touchdown (Adam Luke) and a 33-yard interception return for a touchdown (Adam Colicchio) in last week's win over Dickinson. This marked the first time since September 29, 2000 (54-13 win over Gettysburg) that Johns Hopkins has scored two defensive touchdowns in the same game.
Shutouts: The 24-0 shutout of Randolph-Macon was JHU's first since October 4, 2003, when JHU beat Dickinson, 30-0. That was the third of three straight shutouts for JHU that year. Johns Hopkins has posted 13 shutouts in 15+ seasons under head coach Jim Margraff. The Blue Jays posted 11 shutouts in the 20 seasons prior to Margraff's arrival in 1990.
Holding Them Down: The 35-14 win at Dickinson marked the 21st time in the last 25 games the Blue Jays have held the opposition to 14 points or less. In addition, the 27 points allowed in the first four games are the second fewest by a Johns Hopkins team in the first four games of a season since 1960. Only the 2003 team, which allowed just 16 points in the first four games, has surrendered fewer points through four games in the last 45 seasons that this year's team.
Star Quality: Johns Hopkins placed a school-record 15 players on the 2004 All-Centennial Football Team and nine of those players are back for the 2005 season. The 15 All-CC selections broke the previous record of 14 set in 2003.
Success on the Field and in the Classroom: The recent on-field success of the Johns Hopkins football team has been well documented, but the Blue Jays have been equally successful in the classroom. Johns Hopkins placed six players on the 2004 CoSIDA District II Academic All-America team after earning a school-record seven selections in 2003. Senior LB Max Whitacre earned First Team District II Academic All-America status last season, while senior rover Mike Aynardi, senior DB Jim Sanders and junior DL Brian Nickel all garnered second team honors (two graduated players also earned second team honors).No other school in the district had more than four players named to the District II team in 2004 and JHU's selections represented six of the eight for the Centennial Conference.
More Success in the Classroom: In addition to placing six players on the 2004 CoSIDA District II Academic All-America team, the Blue Jays also had a league-best eight players named to the 2004 Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll. All-Centennial selections Max Whitacre (LB) and Evan Earnest (RS) led the eight-man contingent for the Blue Jays, who also placed Mike Aynardi (LB), Mike Barrasso (LB), Brian Nickel (DL), Nate Readal (FB), Jim Sanders (DB) and Ryan Sheare (OL) on the CC's Academic Honor Roll. No other team in the league placed more than four players on the team.
And They Shall Lead Us: The Blue Jays selected three players to serve as captains for the 2005 season. Senior quarterback Zach DiIonno and senior linebackers Adam Luke and Max Whitacre will lead the team as captains this season.
Player Notes of Interest (Included in PDF Version)
