Aug. 28, 2007
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Final 2006 Statistics in PDF Format
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The Last Time
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The Game: The Johns Hopkins football team opens its 18th season under the guidance of head coach Jim Margraff as the Blue Jays travel to Virginia to take on Hampden-Sydney.
A Quick Refresher: Johns Hopkins posted 5-5 record, including a 3-3 mark in the Centennial Conference, last season. JHU tied for third place in the Centennial after grabbing at least a share of the conference title in each of the previous four years. Hopkins has finished in the top three in the final league standings in each of the last six seasons. No other school in the league has finished in the top three for more than the last three years. Hampden-Sydney posted a 4-6 record, including a 4-2 mark in the ODAC, in 2006.
Earliest Opener in School History: The September 1st season-opening game against Hampden-Sydney will be the earliest game ever played in the history of the Johns Hopkins football program. The previous record for the earliest game played came last season, when the Blue Jays opened the 2006 season against Rochester on September 2nd.
Season-Openers: Johns Hopkins has won eight of its last 10 season-openers and the Blue Jays are 9-7-1 in season-openers under head coach Jim Margraff. The Blue Jays are 52-62-8 (.459) on opening day since the inception of the program in 1882.
Road-Openers: The Blue Jays will carry a six-game winning streak in road openers into this week's game against Hampden-Sydney. Hopkins, which last lost its road opener in 2000, is 9-8 all-time in its first road game of the season under head coach Jim Margraff. The Blue Jays have not allowed more than 17 points in a road opener during their current six-game winning streak in such games.
September Reign: Part of the reason for the recent success of the Blue Jay football program has been the team's ability to get off to a quick start. Johns Hopkins is 20-5 in the month of Septmeber since the start of the 2000 season and 31-10 since the start of the 1995 season.
Against the ODAC: Since starting a series against Bridgewater in 1996 ,the Blue Jays have played 20 games against teams from the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The Blue Jays are 14-6 in those 20 games. The record includes games against Bridgewater (3-3), Randolph-Macon (3-1), Washington & Lee (6-1) and Hampden-Sydney (2-1).
Series History: Johns Hopkins and Hampden-Sydney will be meeting for the 21st time in a series that dates to a 7-0 Johns Hopkins win in 1932. The Tigers lead the all-time series 13-6-1, but the Blue Jays have won 2-of-3 since the series was renewed in 2004.
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 fact, last season's game - a 24-10 JHU victory - was the first game in the series decided by 14 points or less since an 18-8 JHU win in 1961.
About the Coaches: Jim Margraff is now in his 18th season as the head coach at Johns Hopkins and carries a 107-63-3 (.627) record into the 2007 season. 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 69-42-2 (.619) record in league play.
Marty Favret is in his eighth season as the head coach at Hampden-Sydney and boasts a 46-24 (.657) record since arriving prior to the 2000 season. The Tigers have posted a winning record five times in Favret's seven seasons and won at least eight games every year from 2002 through 2005. Hampden-Sydney compiled an impressive 33-7 record during that four-year stretch.
Home Sweet Home: Since the beginning of the 1996 season Johns Hopkins is 43-14 (.754) at home and has twice enjoyed 10-game winning streaks at Homewood Field during that time. Currently, the Blue Jays have won 19 of their last 24 and 27 of their last 34 at home.
Streaking: Since the start of the 2002 season the Blue Jays sport a 41-13 (.759) record. Taking it back further the Blue Jays are 47-16 (.746) since the start of the 2001 season and 52-21 (.712) since the begininng of the 2000 season.
More Streaking: Johns Hopkins enters the 2007 season-opener with an impressive first-quarter shutout streak. The Blue Jays allowed exactly 14 points in the first quarter of their games last season and all 14 came in the first five minutes of a week-two win at Randolph-Macon (21-14). JHU did not allow a point in the first quarter of any of its final eight games in 2006.
History Lesson: How much more successful have the Blue Jays been in this decade than they were in any other? The 52 wins Hopkins has accumulated in the seven years of this decade are already the second-highest total of any decade in school history and just three behind the record of 55, which was set in the 1990s (55-42-3/.565).
Comeback Kids: The 21-14 win at Randolph-Macon last season 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 in 2005. 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 32-6 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 64-4 (.941) under head coach Jim Margraff when scoring 24 or more points...currently, the Blue Jays have won 51 of their last 53 when scoring 24 or more...at the same time, Hopkins is 78-10-2 (.878) when holding the opposition to 14 points or less since Margraff arrived for the 1990 season...the Blue Jays have won 45 of their last 47 games when holding the opposition to 14 points or less.
It's All Academic: Now graduated WR Evan Earnest earned First Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors last season. He is the 10th player in school history to earn Academic All-America honors. He was joined by senior DL Brian Nickel as First Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honorees, while senior DL Anthony Woodard and senior OL Paul Markowski earned second team status. The Blue Jays have earned 23 Academic All-District selections since 2003.
Shutouts: Johns Hopkins has posted 14 shutouts in 17 seasons under head coach Jim Margraff and the two in 2005 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.
Individual Player Notes of Interest Included in PDF Version
