Oct. 18, 2006

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The Game: Johns Hopkins and Muhlenberg begin the stretch run to the end of the season with today's matchup at Homewood Field. The Blue Jays (2-4, 1-2 Centennial) saw their hopes for a fifth straight Centennial title take a hit last week with a 23-18 loss at Gettysburg, while Muhlenberg (3-3, 1-2) snapped a three-game losing streak with a 22-6 win over previously unbeaten Ursinus.

A Quick Refresher: Johns Hopkins posted an 8-3 record, won its fourth straight Centennial Conference Championship and advanced to the NCAA Playoffs for the first time in school history last season. Muhlenberg had its streak of four straight Centennial Conferene Championships snapped as the Mules posted a 3-7 overall record and a 2-4 mark in the Centennial Conference. Muhlenberg stood at 3-3 after six games, but a 13-10 loss to Johns Hopkins at home started a four-game season-ending losing 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 four straight Centennial Conference titles and won three ECAC Championships (ECAC Southwest-2002, ECAC South Atlantic-2003, ECAC Southeast-2004).

About the Coaches: Jim Margraff is now in his 17th season as the head coach at Johns Hopkins and carries a 104-62-3 (.624) record into this week's game against Muhlenberg. The all-time winningest coach in school history, Margraff has guided the Blue Jays to four Centennial Conference Championships, three ECAC titles and one appearance in the NCAA Playoffs. In addition to his overall totals, he also ranks among the all-time winningest coaches in the history of the Centennial Conference as he sports a 67-41-2 (.618) record in league play.
Mike Donnelly is in his 10th season as the head coach at Muhlenberg and carries a 59-42 (.584) record into the game against Johns Hopkins. Donnelly has guided the Mules to four Centennial Conference Championships (2001-04), three appearances in the NCAA Playoffs (2002-04) and one ECAC Championship (2000). He ranks as the all-time winningest coach in Muhlenberg football history.

Series History: Johns Hopkins and Muhlenberg are meeting for the 39th time in a series that began with a 30-28 Johns Hopkins win on September 28, 1968. Muhlenberg leads the series, 20-17-1, and has won four of the last five and five of the last seven. The Blue Jays snapped a four-game losing streak to the Mules with a 13-10 win in Allentown last season. Muhlenberg holds a slim 12-11 lead in the head-to-head series since the formation of the Centennial Conference with the cumulative score in those 23 games (MC holds a narrow 377-370 advantage) demonstrating just how even the series has been. Nine games between the two teams since 1983 have been decided by six points or less with the last two decided by a field goal. Neither team has scored more than 14 points in the last three games. In last season's game, the Blue Jays rallied from a 10-3 deficit early in the fourth quarter to pull out the 13-10 win. Anthony Triplin caught a 12-yard touchdown pass and Ben Scott drilled a 42-yard field goal in a cold, steady rain to improve the Blue Jays' record to 7-0.

Home Sweet Home: Since the beginning of the 1996 season Johns Hopkins is 39-13 (.750) at home and has twice enjoyed 10-game winning streaks at Homewood Field during that time. Currently, the Blue Jays have won 16 of their last 21 and 22 of their last 29 at home.

Road Warriors: The Blue Jays posted a 5-2 record away from home last season, when they played a school-record seven road games. Hopkins has currently won 12 of its last 16 and 17 of its last 22 road games since late in the 2002 season.

Oktoberfest: Johns Hopkins posted a 4-1 record in the month of October last season and has won seven of its last nine road games in October. The Blue Jays will play three of their four October games on the road this season.

Streaking: The last four years have been the most successful in the history of the Johns Hopkins football program. Since the start of the 2002 season the Blue Jays sport a 38-12 (.760) record. Taking it back further the Blue Jays are 44-15 (.746) since the start of the 2001 season and 49-20 (.710) since the begininng of the 2000 season.

Comeback Kids: The 21-14 win at Randolph-Macon was the latest in a long line of comebacks for the Blue Jays. JHU has nine come-from-behind wins to its credit since the start of the 2004 season. The Blue Jays posted an amazing six come-from-behind wins in 2004 and two more last year. Randolph-Macon's 14-0 lead was the largest overcome by the Blue Jays since JHU came back from a 14-0 deficit to knock off Ursinus, 20-14, on October 30, 2004.

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 29-6 when scoring more than seven points and 0-4 when they have been held to seven points or less.

Keys to Success: Johns Hopkins is an impressive 62-4 (.939) under head coach Jim Margraff when scoring 24 or more points...currently, the Blue Jays have won 49 of their last 51 when scoring 24 or more...at the same time, Hopkins is 75-10-2 (.874) when holding the opposition to 14 points or less since Margraff arrived for the 1990 season...the Blue Jays have won 42 of their last 44 games when holding the opposition to 14 points or less.

Shutouts: Johns Hopkins has posted 14 shutouts in 16 seasons under head coach Jim Margraff and the two last 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.

Starting Streaks: Seniors Anthony Triplin ran his streak of consecutive starts to 39 last week at Gettysburg. Triplin, who suffered a broken finger the week before against Franklin & Marshall, will tie the school record for consecutive games started if he starts this week against Muhlenberg. Matt Campbell (2001-04) started a school-record 40 consecutive games to close his career (the only two he didn't start were the first two of his career). Senior offensive lineman Phil Dixon has started the last 36 games for the Blue Jays, while senior SS Matt Hagel's streak of 28 consecutive starts is the next longest active streak.

It's All Academic: Senior DL Brian Nickel returns after earning First Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honors last season. The Johns Hopkins football team produced six players who earned Academic All-District honors a year ago, the most of any school in the district for the third consecutive year. In addition, the Blue Jays have earned 19 Academic All-District selections since 2003, the most of any team in the nation at any level over that period.

Star Quality: Johns Hopkins placed a league-high 14 players on the 2005 All-Centennial Football Team. The Blue Jays fashioned a school-record nine first team selections and five second team honoress. The 14 overall selections were one shy of the school record of 15 (set in 2004) and the nine first team picks were three more than JHU had ever accumulated in one season (six in 1991, 1995, 2003).
In addition to the All-Centennial selections, JHU also produced the 2005 Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Year as junior wide receiver Anthony Triplin became the first JHU player to grab the award since the formation of the league in 1983.

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