Nov. 10, 2005
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The Game: Johns Hopkins (7-2, 4-1 Centennial Conference) closes the regular season at long-time rival McDaniel (5-4, 2-3 CC). The Blue Jays dropped their second game in a row, 49-20, at Hampden-Sydney last Saturday, while the Green Terror snapped a four-game losing streak last week with a gutty 13-6 win over Muhlenberg.
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. McDaniel posted a 6-4 record, earned a share of the Centennial Conference Championship and lost to Albright in the ECAC Southwest Championship game.
Centennial Title Chase: Johns Hopkins has already secured no worse than a share for the Centennial Conference title. The Blue Jays clinch the title outright with a win at McDaniel. A McDaniel win over Johns Hopkins will give a share of the Centennial Championship to the winner of the Franklin & Marshall-Gettysburg game.
Playoff Talk: Johns Hopkins has already clinched the Centennial Conference's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Playoffs. The Blue Jays will learn who they will play and where when the NCAA Division III Football bracket is announced at 1:00 pm on Sunday (November 13) on ESPNews. All first round game (there are no first-round byes) will take place on Saturday, November 19 at noon (local time to the site).
Poll Position: Johns Hopkins did not receive any votes in this week's AFCA Division III Coaches Poll. This marks the first time since the poll of November 12, 2002 that the Blue Jays have not received any points in the AFCA Poll. JHU had received votes in 31 straight polls prior to this week.
Series History: Johns Hopkins and McDaniel are meeting for the 84th time in a series that dates back to a 16-0 then Western Maryland win in 1894. Johns Hopkins leads the series, 43-35-5 and the Blue Jays have had the better of the series of late as JHU has won four straight and 15 of 22 (15-6-1) since the formation of the Centennial Conference in 1983. The teams have met every year since 1947 except one (1963 game was postponed after the assasination of President Kennedy). The signature win in the series of late was JHU's 21-14 win at then ninth-ranked Western Maryland on November 10, 2001. The win snapped the Green Terror's 33-game Centennial Conference winning streak.
Title Time: From 1969-2001 the Johns Hopkins football team did not win a title of any kind. In the last four years the Blue Jays have grabbed a share of four straight Centennial Conference titles (including this year) and won three ECAC Championships (ECAC Southwest-2002, ECAC South Atlantic-2003, ECAC Southeast-2004).
Streaking: Despite the loss to Hampden-Sydney the Blue Jays are 26-5 in their last 31 games, 36-6 in their last 42 and 41-10 in their last 51. These represent the best records ever over those numbers of games in school history.
November Reign: Johns Hopkins is 12-1 in its last 13 games in the month of November and has not lost a game on the road in November since 1999. Prior to last week's loss the Blue Jays had last dropped a game in November in 2000.
Road Warriors: The loss to Hampden-Sydney ended JHU's school-record nine-game road winning streak. The Blue Jays are still 17-3 in their last 20 games away from Homewood Field dating back to the final game of the 2001 season.
Comeback Kids: The Blue Jays erased a 10-3 fourth-quarter deficit to knock off Muhlenberg, 13-10, on October 22. Johns Hopkins has now come from behind to win twice this season (Ben Scott's 37-yard field goal with just one second remaining in the fourth quarter beat Rochester in the season-opener) and eight times since the start of the 2004 season.
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 26-2 when scoring more than seven points and 0-3 when they have been held to seven points or less. The loss to Ursinus actually snapped a 30-game winning streak for Johns Hopkins when it scored more than seven points.
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 70-10-2 (.866) when holding the opposition to 14 points or less since Margraff arrived for the 1990 season...the Blue Jays have won 34 of their last 36 games when holding the opposition to 14 points or less.
Defense Leads The Pack: 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 ranks first in the Centennial Conference in rushing defense (91.8) and scoring defense (12.7) and second in total defense (252.9).
The Blue Jays rank 12th in the nation in scoring defense, 17th in total defense and 23rd in rushing defense.
Shutouts: The 14-0 shutout of Gettysburg was JHU's second of the season. Johns Hopkins has posted 14 shutouts in 15+ seasons under head coach Jim Margraff and the two this season mark the fourth time in the Margraff era that JHU has posted two or more shutouts in one year (1992 (2), 1996 (2), 2003 (3), 2005 (2)). The Blue Jays posted 11 shutouts in the 20 seasons prior to Margraff's arrival in 1990.
Scoring 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 the 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.
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.
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