Nov. 11, 2008

Johns Hopkins-McDaniel Football Notes Additional Information Available in This Format

The Game: Johns Hopkins (7-2, 5-2 Centennial) returns to Homewood Field for the final regular season game of the year as the Blue Jays welcome long-time rival McDaniel (2-7, 1-6 CC) to Baltimore.

A Look Back: Johns Hopkins ran its winning streak to four games with a 26-25 victory at Franklin & Marshall last Saturday.
McDaniel dropped its fifth straight as the Green Terror lost to Gettysburg, 38-9, last Saturday at Bair Stadium.

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 (118) and coached (192) and he enters this week's game with a career record of 118-71-3 (.622).
Tim Keating is closing his 16th season as the head coach at McDaniel with this week's game at Johns Hopkins. Keating is the all-time winningest coach in McDaniel history (98-64-3) and guided the Green Terror to at least a share of six straight Centennial Conference titles (1997-2002) at one point and five consecutive appearances in the NCAA Playoffs (1997-2001).

Margraff Tied for Second in CC Victories: Johns Hopkins head coach Jim Margraff notched his 77th career Centennial Conference victory with last week's win at Franklin & Marshall. The victory moved him into a tie for second place on the league's career coaching victories list with former F&M coach Tom Gilburg. Only Barry Streeter, who has won 84 league games at Gettysburg, ranks ahead of Margraff on the CC's all-time victory list.

Seniors Final Home Game: This week's game against McDaniel will be the final regular season home game for the 13 seniors on the Johns Hopkins football team. The Blue Jays have compiled a 24-16 (.600) record during the career of the seniors with an outright Centennial Conference championship in 2005 and the only NCAA Playoff appearance in school history coming that season as well.

A Glimpse To Next Week: The field for the 2008 NCAA Division III Football Playoffs will be announced on Sunday, November 16. Beyond that, teams from the northeast that are not selected for the NCAAs can be selected to participate in an ECAC Bowl. Participants in the ECAC Bowls will be announced on Monday, November 17 and the bowls will take place on Saturday, November 22. Each bowl (there are three in the north and three in the south) will take place at the home field of one of the participating schools (six sites). Johns Hopkins played in an ECAC game after the 2002, 2003 and 2004 seasons and picked up victories in each of those games.

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 McDaniel wil be the 15th the Blue Jays have played on November 15. Johns Hopkins currently boasts a 7-8 all-time record in games played on November 15 and has won five of its last eight games played on this date. This is the seventh time JHU and McDaniel are meeting on this date (3-3).

Road Warriors: With the 26-25 win at Franklin & Marshall last Saturday the Blue Jays improved to 4-1 this season and 8-2 since the start of the 2007 season on the road. JHU is 30-11 on the road since the start of the 2001 season and 18-7 in away league games since the start of the `01 season.

Noting the Recent Shutouts: The 14-0 shutout victory at Ursinus was JHU's first shutout since October 14, 2005, when the Blue Jays knocked off Gettysburg, 14-0. It was also JHU's first shutout on the road since a 30-0 victory at Dickinson on October 4, 2003 ? The Blue Jays' 12-0 shutout against Juniata in their next game marked the first time since 2003 that Hopkins has posted back-to-back shutouts as the blanking of the Eagles followed the shutout of Ursinus. JHU actually posted three straight shutouts in 2003.

A Program First: The 14-0 win at Ursinus and the 12-0 win against Juniata mark the first time in school history that Johns Hopkins has posted back-to-back shutouts against Centennial Conference opponents (league formed in 1983).

Margraff's Shutouts: The 12-0 win against Juniata was the Blue Jays' 17th shutout since head coach Jim Margraff took over in 1990.

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 481 yards in the win against Juniata. This marked the fourth time this season the Blue Jays have topped the 400-yard mark as they previously turned the trick against Gettysburg (497), Muhlenberg (511) and Dickinson (477).
The Blue Jays are averaging 419.8 yards per game in their last eight games and currently rank fourth in the Centennial Conference in total offense (385.7), fifth in rushing offense (171.8) and second in passing offense (213.9).

Scoring Surge: Johns Hopkins ranks third in the Centennial Conference in scoring offense (27.0) with 243 points scored through nine games (this is 31 points more than Hopkins totaled in 10 games last season).
Johns Hopkins has averaged 30 or more points per game just twice in school history (1967 ? 36.4 / 1968 ? 34.0). The school record for total points scored in a season is 315 (2003).

November Reign: Johns Hopkins has played some of its best football of the Jim Margraff era in the month of November. Dating back to 2001 the Blue Jays are 18-3 in games played in the month of November. Johns Hopkins did not lose a game in the month of November from 2001 through 2004 and last season's 19-11 loss to Franklin & Marshall was the Blue Jays' first home loss in the month of November since the final game of the 2000 season. Johns Hopkins is 30-15-1 under Margraff's guidance in games played in November.

Streaking: Since the start of the 2002 season the Blue Jays sport a 52-21 (.712) record. Taking it back farther the Blue Jays are 58-24 (.707) since the start of the 2001 season and 63-29 (.685) since the beginning of the 2000 season. The 63 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 69-17 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 13 games dating back to last season, the Blue Jays have outscored the opposition 100-17 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 has converted on 24-of-32 (.750) chances in the red zone this season. The Blue Jays currently rank third 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 its credit. Since the start of the 2007 season Johns Hopkins has 36 touchdowns and 13 field goals on 59 trips to the `zone.

Seven's Heaven: Since the beginning of the 2003 season the Blue Jays are 43-14 when scoring more than seven points and 0-5 when they have been held to seven points or less.

Statistical Youth: Through nine games the Blue Jays have rushed the ball 345 times (does not include kneel-downs) and have 154 receptions. Of the 499 offensive touches, exactly one (a three-yard reception) has been by a senior. In other words, 99.9% of JHUs total offense (3,468 of 3,471 yards) has been accumulated by players who will return next season.

Note of the Day: Johns Hopkins totaled 228 yards rushing and 253 yards passing in the win over Juniata. This marked the second time this season the Blue Jays have totaled more than 200 yards rushing and passing in the same game (Gettysburg). This was also the 10th time the Blue Jays have turned the trick under head coach Jim Margraff (the Blue Jays have won eight of the 10 games).

It's All Academic: Johns Hopkins had three players named to the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team last week. Junior defensive lineman Steve Levinson was named to the first team, while classmates Mike Stoffel and Anthony Catanzano garnered second team honors. Johns Hopkins has earned 29 CoSIDA Academic All-District selections since 2003. JHU's 29 selections in that time are the same number the other CC football-playing schools have combined for (29). Taking it back even farther, Johns Hopkins has earned 55 CoSIDA Academic All-District selections since 1991. During that time the other CC football-playing schools have combined for 59 selections. Johns Hopkins has had at least three players earn CoSIDA Academic All-District honors every year since 2001.

Player Notes of Interest Included in PDF Version