Sept. 12, 2007

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The Game: Johns Hopkins plays the second of three straight home games as the Blue Jays host Gettysburg in the only Friday night game of the year for Hopkins. Both teams enter the game at 1-1 after season-opening victories that were followed by week two losses.

About the Coaches: Jim Margraff is now in his 18th season as the head coach at Johns Hopkins and carries a 108-64-3 (.626) record into this week's game against Gettysburg. 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.
The dean of Centennial Conference head coaches, Barry Streeter is now in his 29th season as the head coach at Gettysburg. Streeter sports an all-time record of 142-138-5 and ranks 13th among active Division III head coaches in victories. His 75 all-time Centennial Conference victories leave him just two shy of tying Franklin & Marshall's Tom Gilburg for first place in league history.

ODAC Blues: Johns Hopkins and Gettysburg both enter tonight's game looking to bounce back from disheartening losses against opponents from the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The Blue Jays dropped an 18-9 decision to Randolph-Macon in one of the strangest games ever played in the 100-year history of Homewood Field. The Yellow Jackets got a safety, scored on an offensive fumble recovery in the end zone and capped the win with a 25-yard interception return for a score in the final 30 seconds. Gettysburg spotted Hampden-Sydney a 33-0 halftime lead and fell to the Tigers 54-7.

Friday Night Lights: A staple of the Johns Hopkins schedule is at least one Friday night game and this year only the Bullets agreed to come to Homewood to play under the lights. Actually, head coach Barry Streeter is the only coach who has regularly agreed to play at Homewood on Friday night as this is the seventh straight meeting between JHU and Gettysburg in Baltimore that has taken place on Friday night. The Blue Jays have compiled an all-time record of 25-12-1 (.671) since hosting Widener on September 25, 1982 in the first Friday night game in school history. The Blue Jays are 21-7-1 (.741) in home Friday night games under head coach Jim Margraff.

Second of Three Straight at Home: Tonight's game is the second of three straight games the Blue Jays will play at Homewood Field. The last time Hopkins played three straight regular-season games at home was early in the 2002 season, when JHU knocked off Rochester, Carnegie Mellon and Gettysburg in successive weeks. Prior to that, the last time JHU had played three straight at home was in 1979, when the Blue Jays ended the year with three straight at Homewood. The 1979 team was led by a sophomore quarterback named Jim Margraff.

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 16 Centennial openers and are 14-3 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 (15-9) ranks as the second-best in league history. Only Franklin & Marshall, which fashions a 17-7 all-time record in Centennial-openers, sports a better record than Johns Hopkins.

September Reign: Despite the loss against Randolph-Macon last Saturday, the Blue Jays still sport a 21-6 record in the month of September since the start of the 2000 season and a 32-11 mark since the start of the 1995 season.

Home Sweet Home: Since the beginning of the 1996 season Johns Hopkins is 43-15 (.741) at home and has twice enjoyed 10-game winning streaks at Homewood Field during that time.

Streaking: Since the start of the 2002 season the Blue Jays sport a 42-14 (.750) record. Taking it back further the Blue Jays are 48-17 (.738) since the start of the 2001 season and 53-22 (.707) since the begininng of the 2000 season. The 53 wins the Blue Jays have amassed this decade are already just two shy of the school record for wins in a decade (55/1990s).

More Streaking: The field goal (Hampden-Sydney) and safety (Randolph-Macon) the Blue Jays have allowed in the first quarter this season represent the only points JHU has allowed in the first quarter in the last 10 games dating back to the third game of the 2006 season. JHU's streak of consecutive games without allowing a touchdown in the first quarter now stands at 10.

Comeback Kids: The 17-16 win at Hampden-Sydney was the latest in a long line of comebacks for the Blue Jays. JHU has 10 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 last season 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.

Block Party: Johns Hopkins blocked exactly three kicks in the first nine games of the 2006 season, but in the last three games (vs. McDaniel last season and against Hampden-Sydney and Randolph-Macon this season), the Blue Jays have come up with five blocked kicks. The latest of these came late in the second quarter of last week's game against Randolph-Macon, when senior Chris DiForte slipped through the middle of the line and blocked an extra point. Senior co-captain Dan Requena scooped up the loose ball and raced 85 yards for a two-point defensive extra point that gave JHU a 9-8 lead at the half.

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.

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 33-7 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...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 under Margraff...the Blue Jays have won 45 of their last 47 games when holding the opposition to 14 points or less.

It's All Academic: Johns Hopkins has earned 23 Academic All-District selections since 2003. JHU's 23 selections in that time are more than the other CC football-playing schools combined.

Individual Player Notes of Interest Included in PDF Version