Aug. 30, 2005
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The Game: The Johns Hopkins football team opens the 2005 season at the University of Rochester. Kickoff at UR's Edwin Fauver Stadium is set for 12:05 pm on Saturday, September 3.
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. Rochester bounced back from a 1-3 start to even its record at 4-4, but dropped season-ending decisions to Rensselaer (28-14) and Hobart (41-20) to finish 4-6.
For Openers: Johns Hopkins has won seven of its last eight season-openers and and the Blue Jays are 8-6-1 in season-openers under head coach Jim Margraff.
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 19-3 in its last 22 games (since the beginning of the 2003 season), 28-5 in its last 33 games (since the beginning of the 2002 season) and 34-8 in its last 42 games (since the beginning of the 2001 season). These records represent the most victories ever by a JHU football team in a two, three and four-year span. The 28 wins the Blue Jays have accumulated in the last three years are more than Hopkins had accumulated in any four-year period from 1882-2001.
September Reign: The Blue Jays enter the 2005 season with an impressive record in recent years in the month of September. Hopkins has currently won 11 straight games in the month of September dating back to a 50-27 loss to eventual national runner-up Bridgewater on September 21, 2001. In addition, the Blue Jays are 16-2 in the month of September since the beginning of the 2000 season.
Home Sweet Home: Since the beginning of the 1996 season Johns Hopkins is 36-10 (.783) at home and has twice enjoyed 10-game winning streaks at Homewood Field during that time. Currently, the Blue Jays have won 13 of their last 15 and 19 of their last 23 at home.
Road Warriors: Johns Hopkins posted a 4-0 record on the road last season and has won five straight road games dating back to the 2003 season. Dating back to late in the 2002 season the Blue Jays are 10-1 in their last 11 road games and JHU is 13-2 in its last 15 road games dating back to the final game of the 2001 season.
Sack Masters: In 11 games last season the Blue Jays registered 35 sacks. Players who accounted for 24.5 of the 35 sacks return this season, including junior Brian Cook, who set a school record with 11.5 sacks in 2004.
Comeback Kids: Johns Hopkins came from behind to win six times in 2004 and erased 14-point deficits in a pair of victories. In the ECAC Southeast Championship game the Blue Jays erased deficits of 14-0 and 21-7 in what eventually became a 26-23 victory against Waynesburg.
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 in the last two years. Since the beginning of the 2003 season the Blue Jays are 19-0 when scoring more than seven points and 0-3 when they have been held to seven points or less.
In the Zone: Johns Hopkins excelled when it moved the ball into the red zone last season. The Blue Jays scored on 32-of-36 (.889) trips into the red zone with 22 touchdowns and 10 field goals. No other team in the Centennial Conference scored on more than 73% of its trips inside the red zone.
Keys to Success: Johns Hopkins is an impressive 58-4 (.935) under head coach Jim Margraff when scoring 24 or more points...currently, the Blue Jays have won 45 of their last 47 when scoring 24 or more...at the same time, Hopkins is 63-10-2 (.853) when holding the opposition to 14 points or less since Margraff arrived for the 1990 season...the Blue Jays have won 28 of their last 30 games when holding the opposition to 14 points or less.
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 graudated 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 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. Of the eight Blue Jays only Readal and Sheare were seniors last season.
And They Shall Lead Us: The Blue Jays selected three players to serve as captains for the 2005 season. Senior quarterback Zach DiIonno (West Caldwell, NJ/James Caldwell) and senior linebackers Adam Luke (Teague, TX/Teague) and Max Whitacre (Sugarloaf, PA/Bishop Hafey) will lead the team as captains this season.
Player Notes of Interest (Included in PDF Version)
