Sept. 14, 2005

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The Game: An early-season battle of unbeatens as Johns Hopkins takes a 2-0 record and six-game winning streak to Pittsburgh to take on a Carnegie Mellon team that is also 2-0 and has won four straight dating back to last season. JHU knocked off Randolph-Macon, 24-0 last week, while The Tartans erased a 13-0 deficit in a 20-16 win over Grove City.

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. Carnegie Mellon posted a 6-4 record, but the Tartans could have easily been 8-2. A tough, two-point loss at Grove City and a five-point loss at Washington (MO) were among the four losses CMU suffered in 2004.

Series History: Carnegie Mellon leads the all-time series against Johns Hopkins, 6-4, although the Blue Jays have won all three meetings since the series resumed in 2002. Hopkins posted a 21-0 win at CMU two years ago, the second of three straight shutouts for JHU. The Tartans have not led in any of the last three games between the two teams. CMU won six of the first seven games in the series with five of the six wins coming by 20 points or more.

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 21-3 in its last 24 games (since the beginning of the 2003 season), 30-5 in its last 35 games (since the beginning of the 2002 season) and 36-8 in its last 44 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.

September Reign: The 24-0 win over Randolph-Macon last week extended JHU's winning streak in the month of September to 13 games. The Blue Jays last dropped a game in the opening month of the season on September 21, 2001 when eventual national finalist Bridgewater picked up a 50-27 victory at Homewood Field.

Non-Conference Roll: The 24-0 win over Randolph-Macon last week extended JHU's winning streak in non-conference games to 12 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: With six of their 10 regular season games scheduled for the road this season, the Blue Jays will need to count on their experience to carry them through. The win over Rochester was JHU's sixth straight victory away from Homewood Field and 14th win in its last 16 road games.

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. The Blue Jays have five sacks through two games with five different players recording at least half a sack.

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). 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.

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 21-0 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 59-4 (.937) under head coach Jim Margraff when scoring 24 or more points...currently, the Blue Jays have won 46 of their last 48 when scoring 24 or more...at the same time, Hopkins is 65-10-2 (.857) when holding the opposition to 14 points or less since Margraff arrived for the 1990 season...the Blue Jays have won 29 of their last 31 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. The Blue Jays have continued that trend in the opening two games of the season as they rank first in the Centennial Conference in scoring defense (3.5 ppg.), second in rushing defense (70.0 ypg.) and total defense (176.5 ypg.) and third in passing defense (106.5 ypg.).

Shutouts: The shutout of Randolph-Macon last week 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 shutout against Randolph-Macon marked the 19th time in the last 23 games the Blue Jays have held the opposition to 14 points or less. In addition, the seven points allowed in the first two games is the fewest by a Johns Hopkins team in the first two games of a season since 1959, when JHU allowed a total of six points in its first two games.

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