Sept. 7, 2006
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The Game: Johns Hopkins hits the road for the first time in 2006 as the Blue Jays (0-1) travel to Ashland, Virginia to take on Randolph-Macon (1-0). Johns Hopkins dropped its season-opener, 20-10, to Rochester, while the Yellow Jackets pulled out a thrilling 20-14 win over Denison.
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. Randolph-Macon posted a 2-8 overall record and tied for fifth place in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference with a 1-5 league mark.
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).
Earliest Opener in School History: Last week's game against Rochester on September 2nd was the earliest game in Johns Hopkins football history.
Series History: Johns Hopkins and Randolph-Macon are meeting for the 30th time in a series that dates back to 1904. The series is tied at 14-14-1 and Johns Hopkins has won two of the three meetings since the series resumed in 2002 after a 34-year break. The Blue Jays have posted back-to-back shutouts by identical 24-0 scores in the last two meetings (2003, 2005) to snap a six-game Yellow Jacket win streak in the series.
About the Coaches: Jim Margraff is now in his 17th season as the head coach at Johns Hopkins and carries a 102-59-3 (.631) record into this week's game against Randolph-Macon. 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.
Pedro Arruza is in his third season as the head coach at Randolph-Macon and sports a 6-15 overall record since taking over in 2004.
September Reign: Last week's loss to Rochester snapped a 14-game winning streak for the Blue Jays in the month of September dating back to a 50-27 loss to then third-ranked Bridgewater on September 21, 2001. Despite last week's loss the Blue Jays are still 19-3 in the month of September since the start of the 2000 season and 30-8 in the opening month since the start of the 1995 season.
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 10 of its last 12 and 15 of its last 18 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 36-9 (.800) record. Taking it back further the Blue Jays are 42-12 (.777) since the start of the 2001 season and 47-17 (.734) since the begininng of the 2000 season.
Comeback Kids: JHU has eight 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.
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 27-3 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 73-10-2 (.871) when holding the opposition to 14 points or less since Margraff arrived for the 1990 season...the Blue Jays have won 40 of their last 42 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: Senior tackle Phil Dixon is scheduled to make his 32nd consecutive start in the game against Randolph-Macon. Only senior wide receiver Anthony Triplin (34) has started more consecutive games than Dixon. Triplin is on pace to break Matt Campbell's (2001-04) school record for consecutive starts (40), a mark Dixon could match with 10 straight starts this season. Other returning players with active streaks of 20 or more consecutive starts include Matt Hagel (23) and Alan Cody (23).
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)
