Nov. 1, 2006

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The Game: Johns Hopkins and Hampden-Sydney meet in the next-to-last game of the season for both teams. The Blue Jays (3-5) dropped a 17-7 decision at Ursinus last Saturday, while the Tigers also fell to 3-5 with a 22-21 loss at home against Dickinson.

What's at Stake: The loss last week at Ursinus officially elimiated the Blue Jays from contention for a share of the Centennial Conferene Championship. The Blue Jays need two wins to assure themselves of a .500 record for the seventh straight season. The last time Johns Hopkins posted a .500 record or better for seven straight seasons was from 1967-1973. Since the formation of the football program at Johns Hopins in 1882 the Blue Jays have never posted a .500 record or better in more than seven consecutive seasons.

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. Hampden-Sydney posted an 8-2 overall record and finished in second place in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference with a 4-2 mark in league play.

About the Coaches: Jim Margraff is now in his 17th season as the head coach at Johns Hopkins and carries a 105-63-3 (.623) record into this week's game against Hampden-Sydney. 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 68-42-2 (.616) record in league play.
Marty Favret is in his seventh season as the head coach at Hampden-Sydney and boasts a 45-23 (.662) record since arriving prior to the 2000 season. The Tigers have posted a winning record every year under Favret except his first (4-6) and won at least eight games every year from 2002 through 2005. Hampden-Sydney compiled a 33-7 record during that four-year stretch.

Series History: Johns Hopkins and Hamden-Sydney are meeting for the 20th time in series that dates to a 7-0 Johns Hopkins win on November 12, 1932. The Tigers lead the series 13-5-1, although the teams have split the two games since the series resumed in 2004. The Blue Jays claimed a 38-14 win over then 11th-ranked Hampden-Sydney two years ago, while the Tigers returned the favor with a lopsided win of their own, 49-20, last season. There hasn't been much middle ground in the series as the games have either been close (five games decided by seven points or less) or blowouts (nine games decided by 20 points or more).
In last season's game the Tigers scored on their first three possessions, built a 42-7 halftime lead and cruised to the 49-20 win.

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.

November Reign: Johns Hopkins enters this week's game against Hampden-Sydney having won eight straight games at home in the month of November. During the eight-game winning streak the Blue Jays have outscored the opposition 251-86.

Streaking: The last five 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 39-13 (.750) record. Taking it back further the Blue Jays are 45-16 (.738) since the start of the 2001 season and 50-21 (.704) 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 0-5 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.

Triplin Breaks Record For Starts, Consecutive Starts: Senior wide receiver Anthony Triplin entered the Johns Hopkins record book in a category that didn't even exist until 1997; games started. With his 41st consecutive start in last week's game at Ursinus, Triplin broke Matt Campbell's (2001-04) school records for games started and consecutive starts. Phil Dixon (38 straight starts) and Matt Hagel (30) also have active streaks of 30 or more consecutive starts.

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.

Player Notes of Interest (Included in PDF Version)