Oct. 16, 2008

Johns Hopkins-Ursinus Football Notes in PDF Format Additional Information Available in This Format

The Game: Johns Hopkins (4-2, 2-2 Centennial) hits the road for the fourth time in 2008 as the Blue Jays travel to Ursinus (2-3, 1-2 CC). Kickoff is set for 1 pm at Patterson Field as the Bears celebrate Homecoming.

A Look Back: Johns Hopkins snapped a two-game losing streak with a wild 36-34 victory over Dickinson last Friday night at Homewood Field. The Blue Jays sprinted to a stunning 33-0 lead in the third quarter, only to watch an equally stunning rally by the Red Devils fall just short.
Ursinus dropped its second straight game on the road as the Bears turned the ball over six times in a 51-13 loss at Franklin & Marshall.

The Coaches: Johns Hopkins is coached by Jim Margraff `82, who is in his 19th season as the head coach at Homewood. Margraff is JHU's all-time leader in games won (115) and coached (189) and he enters this week's game with a career record of 115-71-3 (.616).
Peter Gallagher is now in his eighth season as the head coach at Ursinus. He sports a 33-43 overall record at Ursinus, including a 15-32 mark in Centennial Conference games. Gallagher guided the Bears to a 6-4 record in his first season (2001), an 8-3 record in 2006 and a 7-3 mark in 2007. UC beat the eventual Centennial Conferene Champion in 2005 (JHU) and 2006 (Dickinson) and played in the ECAC Southwest Champonship game in 2006.

Captain, My Captain: In a vote of his teammates, junior running back Andrew Kase was selected to serve as the team captain for the Blue Jays this season. According to records in the Johns Hopkins Sports Information Office, he is the first player to serve as a solo captain for the Blue Jay football team since 1983 (Francis Mullan).

On This Date: This week's game against Ursinus wil be the 15th the Blue Jays have played on October 18. Johns Hopkins has won three of its last four games on this date and sports a 7-7 all-time record in games played on October 18.

Friday Night Lights: Johns Hopkins improved to 26-13-1 (.663) at home on Friday night with last week's 36-34 win over Dickinson. The Blue Jays are 22-8-1 (.726) under current head coach Jim Margraff at home on Friday nights.

Road Warriors: The loss at Moravian (9/27) snapped JHU's five-game road winning streak that dated back to last season. Despite the loss, the Blue Jays are still 6-2 on the road since the start of the 2007 season. Prior to the loss at Moravian, JHU's only loss on the road since the start of last season was a tough 28-21 setback at eventual league champion Muhlenberg last September. JHU is 28-11 on the road since the start of the 2001 season and 16-7 in away league games since the start of the `01 season.

That's a Blue Jay First Down: In rolling up 497 yards of total offense against Gettysburg the Blue Jays also set a school record for first downs in a game. JHU's 31 first downs against the Bullets topped the previous record of 30 set against then third-ranked Bridgetwater in 2001.

Offense Rolls Past 400 - Again: Johns Hopkins rolled up 511 yards of total offense against 5th-ranked Muhlenberg on October 4 and added 477 last Friday night against Dickinson. This marks the first time JHU has topped 400 yards of total offense in back-to-back games since early in the 2004 season (Rochester and Kean). The Blue Jays are averaging 442.4 yards per game in their last five games and currently rank fourth in the Centennial Conference in total offense (387.5), fourth in rushing offense (176.2) and third in pass offense (211.3).

Scoring Surge: Johns Hopkins ranks second in the Centennial Conference in scoring offense (31.8) with 191 points scored through six games (just 21 points shy of last season's 10-game total of 212).
At this rate the Blue Jays could challenge the school record for points scored in a season (315 in 2003). Johns Hopkins has averaged 30 or more points per game just twice in school history (1967 ? 36.4 / 1968 ? 34.0).

Johns Hopkins Second in CC Wins This Decade: Including last week's win over Dickinson, Johns Hopkins ranks second in the Centennial Conference in victories since the start of the 2000 season. The Blue Jays sport a 35-20 record in league games since 2000 with only Muhlenberg (39-15) ranking ahead of JHU.

Octoberfest: Johns Hopkins is 18-12 in the month of October since the start of the 2001 season and 43-34-1 all-time under head coach Jim Margraff in October.

Close Calls In October: Fans don't want to leave a Johns Hopkins football game early in the month of October as the outcome is usually in doubt until the final horn. Dating back to the final game JHU played in October in 2003, 14 of the Blue Jays' last 19 games in the month of October have been decided by 10 points or less and 12 of the 19 have been decided by eight points or less.

Streaking: Since the start of the 2002 season the Blue Jays sport a 49-21 (.700) record. Taking it back farther the Blue Jays are 55-24 (.696) since the start of the 2001 season and 60-29 (.674) since the beginning of the 2000 season. The 60 wins the Blue Jays have amassed this decade are already the most wins in a decade in school history. The previous record of 55 wins came in the 1990s.

Must be the Speech: Johns Hopkins has played some of its best football in the third quarter of its games this season as the Blue Jays have outscored the opposition 42-17 in the third period. Prior to Muhlenberg and Dickinson both scoring touchdowns in the third period, the Blue Jays had gone eight games without allowing a touchdown in the third quarter.
In the last 10 games dating back to last season, the Blue Jays have outscored the opposition 73-17 in the third quarter.

Working Overtime: The 39-31 triple overtime win at Randolph-Macon was JHU's first overtime game since a 21-14 win at Washington & Lee in the 2002 season-opener (one overtime period). The Blue Jays are now 2-2 all-time in overtime and all four extra-session games the Blue Jays have played in their history have been on the road.

In the Zone: Johns Hopkins was 5-for-5 in the red zone against Dickinson and has converted on 19-of-22 (.864) chances in the red zone this season. The Blue Jays currently rank second in the Centennial Conference in red zone offense.
The success in the red zone for the Blue Jays extends back to last season, when Hopkins finished the year 25-of-27 (92.6%) on the year with 17 touchdowns and eight field goals to their credit. Since the start of the 2007 season Johns Hopkins has 31 touchdowns and 13 field goals on 49 trips to the `zone.

Seven's Heaven: Since the beginning of the 2003 season the Blue Jays are 40-14 when scoring more than seven points and 0-5 when they have been held to seven points or less.

Statistical Youth: Through six games the Blue Jays have rushed the ball 239 times (does not include kneel-downs) and have 105 receptions. Of the 444 offensive touches, exactly one (a three-yard reception) has been by a senior. In other words, 99.9% of JHUs total offense (2,282 of 2,285 yards) has been accumulated by players who will return next season.

Note of the Day: For the first time in school history, Johns Hopkins had two players with 100 yards receiving (Wernick-205, Michels-108), a 100-yard rusher (Kase-128) and a 300-yard passer (Tomlin-387) as the quartet turned the trick last week against Muhlenberg.

It's All Academic: Johns Hopkins has earned 26 CoSIDA Academic All-District selections since 2003. JHU's 26 selections in that time are more than the other CC football-playing schools combined (22). Taking it back even farther, Johns Hopkins has earned 52 CoSIDA Academic All-District selections since 1991. During that time the other CC football-playing schools have combined for exactly 52 selections as well. Johns Hopkins has had at least three players earn CoSIDA Academic All-District honors every year since 2001.

Additional Information and Player Notes of Interest