Oct. 25, 2006

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The Game: Johns Hopkins hits the road for the final time this season as the Blue Jays (3-4, 2-2 Centennial Conference) travel to Collegeville, Pennsylvania to take on Ursinus (5-2, 1-2 CC). Johns Hopkins is looking to build off the momentum of last week's 10-7 win over Muhlenberg, while the Bears are looking to snap a two-game losing streak that includes last week's 27-18 setback at Gettysburg.

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. Ursinus was in the race for the Centennial Conference Championship until the next-to-last game of the 2005 season before a tough home loss to Franklin & Marshall and a season-ending loss to Dickinson dropped the Bears' to 4-6 overall and 2-4 in the Centennial Conference.

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 105-62-3 (.624) record into this week's game against Ursinus. 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.
Peter Gallagher is in his sixth season as the head coach at Ursinus and is enjoying his best season in Collegeville. Gallagher guided the Bears to a 5-0 start (their best since 1996, when they started 7-0) this season to improve his career record to 21-36.

Series History: Johns Hopkins and Ursinus are meeting for the 49th time in a series that dates to a 12-0 Johns Hopkins win on October 11, 1958. The Blue Jays lead the series 28-16-4 and had won four straight against the Bears before last season's 21-17 Ursinus win at Homewood Field. Johns Hopkins has won two straight and three of the last four at Patterson Field.
Since the formation of the Centennial Conference in 1983 the Blue Jays hold a 13-9-1 advantage with 12 of the 23 games decided by six points or less. Johns Hopkins holds a slim 6-5-1 advantage in the 12 games that have been decided by six points or less in the 23-game span.

Home Sweet Home: Since the beginning of the 1996 season Johns Hopkins is 40-13 (.755) at home and has twice enjoyed 10-game winning streaks at Homewood Field during that time. Currently, the Blue Jays have won 17 of their last 22 and 23 of their last 30 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 play three of their four October games on the road this season.

Homecoming: For the third time this month, Johns Hopkins is the guest of honor for the opposition's Homecoming game. The BlueJays slipped past F&M (14-7), but lost to Gettysburg (23-18) in front of the alumni.

Cardiac Kids: Attending a Johns Hopkins football game has been worth the price of admission this season as all seven games have been decided in the final three minutes. Below is a look at JHU's game-by-game results with the key late-game play (s) noted.

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 39-12 (.765) record. Taking it back further the Blue Jays are 45-15 (.750) since the start of the 2001 season and 50-20 (.714) 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 30-6 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 76-10-2 (.875) when holding the opposition to 14 points or less since Margraff arrived for the 1990 season...the Blue Jays have won 43 of their last 45 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 40 last week against Muhlenberg to tie the school record for consecutive starts. 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 37 games for the Blue Jays, while senior SS Matt Hagel's streak of 29 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.

Player Notes of Interest in PDF Version