Sept. 28, 2005

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The Game: Johns Hopkins and Dickinson kickoff the Centennial Conference portion of the schedule with a league game in Carlisle. The Blue Jays, who are ranked 24th in this week's AFCA Division III Coaches Poll, will carry a 3-0 record and seven-game winning streak into the game after a 9-6 win at Carnegie Mellon on September 17. The Red Devils (1-2) have dropped two straight since a 30-13 season-opening win at Juniata. Dickinson dropped a 29-26 decision in overtime at Kings Point in its last game on September 17.

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. Dickinson was one of four teams to share the Centennial Conference Championship with the Blue Jays last season as the `Devils posted a 6-4 overall record and a 4-2 mark in the league.

Series History: Johns Hopkins leads the all-time series, 28-26-4 and has won two of the last three meetings. Dickinson won last season's game, 17-7, as the Red Devil defense forced six turnovers. Hopkins posted a 30-0 win in Carlisle in 2003 to snap an eight-game losing streak at Dickinson. Five of the last 10 meetings have been decided by seven points or less and two of the last four at Dickinson have gone to overtime.

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 22-3 in its last 25 games (since the beginning of the 2003 season), 31-5 in its last 36 games (since the beginning of the 2002 season) and 37-8 in its last 45 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: Johns Hopkins closed out another perfect September with the 9-6 win at Carnegie Mellon. The Blue Jays have now won 14 straight games in the month of September. 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 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: 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 Carnegie Mellon was JHU's seventh straight victory away from Homewood Field and 15th win in its last 17 road games. The seven-game road winning streak is believed to be tied for 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. 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 22-0 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 66-10-2 (.859) when holding the opposition to 14 points or less since Margraff arrived for the 1990 season...the Blue Jays have won 30 of their last 32 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 three games of the season as they rank first in the Centennial Conference in scoring defense (4.3 ppg.), second in rushing defense (111.7 ypg.), first in total defense (209.7 ypg.) and first in passing defense (98.0 ypg.). The Blue Jays rank third in the nation in scoring defense, sixth in pass efficiency defense (77.1 rating) and 15th in total defense.

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 9-6 win at Carnegie Mellon marked the 20th time in the last 24 games the Blue Jays have held the opposition to 14 points or less. In addition, the 13 points allowed in the first two games is the fewest by a Johns Hopkins team in the first three games of a season since 1960, when JHU allowed a total of 12 points in its first two games.

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