Sept. 27, 2006
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The Last Time
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Tentative JHU Depth Chart vs. Dickinson
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The Game: Johns Hopkins hosts Dickinson in the Centennial opener for both teams. The Blue Jays carry a 1-2 record into the game after last week's 21-20 loss at St. Lawrence, while Dickinson is coming off a bye week and sports a 2-1 record after defeating USMMA, 20-7, at home on September 16.
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. Dickinson posted a 4-6 overall record, including a 3-3 mark in the Centennial, last season.
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).
Centennial Openers: Johns Hopkins has been one of the most successul teams in the Centennial Conference in league openers as the Blue Jays have won 14 of their last 15 Centennial openers and are 14-2 under head coach Jim Margraff in CC lid lifters. JHU's record in Centennial openers before Margraff took over in 1990 was 1-6 and JHU's overall record in such games (15-8) ranks as the second-best in league history. Only Franklin & Marshall, which fashions a 16-7 all-time record in Centennial-openers, sports a better record than Johns Hopkins.
About the Coaches: Jim Margraff is now in his 17th season as the head coach at Johns Hopkins and carries a 103-60-3 (.630) record into this week's game against Dickinson. 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 66-39-2 (.626) record in league play.
Darwin Breaux is now in his 14th season as the head coach at Dickinson and sports an overall record of 81-54-1, including an impressive 54-30-1 mark in Centennial Conference games. He has guided the Red Devils to three Centennial Conference Championships (1993, 1994 and 2004) and one appearance in the NCAA Playoffs (1993). In addition, all four of Dickinson's Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Year winners have come on Breaux's watch.
Series History: Johns Hopkins and Dickinson are meeting for the 60th time with the Blue Jays holding a slim 29-26-4 advantage. The series began in 1891 with a 52-0 Dickinson victory and the teams have met every year since 1981. Johns Hopkins won a series-best eight straight from 1967-74, while the Devils have twice won five in a row against Hopkins (1991-95 & 1997-2001). The Blue Jays have currently won three of the last four and the visiting team has won three straight.
In last season's game, the Blue Jays scored a pair of defensive touchdowns on a 31-yard fumble return by Adam Luke and a 33-yard interception return by Adam Colicchio to fuel a 35-14 victory.
September Reign: Johns Hopkins is 20-4 in the month of September since the start of the 2000 season and 31-9 in the opening month since the start of the 1995 season. The Blue Jays are also 40-16-1 in September under head coach Jim Margraff.
Home Sweet Home: Since the beginning of the 1996 season Johns Hopkins is 39-12 (.765) 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 20 and 22 of their last 28 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 11 of its last 14 and 16 of its last 20 road games since late in the 2002 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 37-10 (.787) record. Taking it back further the Blue Jays are 43-13 (.768) since the start of the 2001 season and 48-18 (.727) 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 28-4 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 74-10-2 (.872) when holding the opposition to 14 points or less since Margraff arrived for the 1990 season...the Blue Jays have won 41 of their last 43 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 and Phil Dixon continue to close in on the school record for consecutive games started. 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). Triplin enters this week's game against Dickinson having started all 36 games in his career, while Dixon has started the last 33 games for the Blue Jays. Other returning players with active streaks of 25 or more consecutive starts include Matt Hagel (25) and Alan Cody (25).
Blue Jays Picked to Win Centennial Conference: For the third straight year the Johns Hopkins football team topped the Centennial Conference Preseason Coaches and SIDs poll as the Blue Jays grabbed 12 first-place votes and amassed 72 points to easily outdistance McDaniel (51 points) for the top spot.
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 (Included in PDF Version)
