Sept. 18, 2013

Johns Hopkins-Moravian Football Notes

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The Game: Johns Hopkins (2-0, 1-0 Centennial) makes the first of three trips to the state of Pennsylvania this season as the Blue Jays head to Bethlehem to take on Moravian (0-2, 0-1 CC).

A Look Back: Johns Hopkins improved to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the Centennial Conference as the Blue Jays topped Susquehanna, 24-7, last Saturday. Moravian made its only trip to the state of Maryland this season a week ago and came out on the short end of a 21-14 decision at McDaniel.

Poll Position: Johns Hopkins moved up one spot to #16 in this week's D3football.com Poll. The Johns Hopkins Athletic Communications Office uses the AFCA Poll to reflect the team's official ranking at the time of a game. The initial AFCA Poll of the 2013 season will be issued later in September.

Countdown to 500: Johns Hopkins moved to within seven wins of victory number 500 as the Blue Jays improved their all-time record to 493-476-58 (.508) with last week's victory against Susquehanna. JHU is bidding to become the fourth Centennial Conference team to reach the 500-win mark (F&M-591, Gettysburg-548, McDaniel-515).

Series History: This week's game will be the 15th all-time meeting between Johns Hopkins and Moravian with each team holding seven wins. JHU has currently won four straight against the 'Hounds. A complete series history can be found on page 2.

Home Openers: With last week's win vs. Susquehanna, Johns Hopkins is now 17-6-1 in home openers under head coach Jim Margraff.

Centennial Openers: Johns Hopkins improved to a Centennial Conference-best 21-10 in league openers with last week's 24-7 win against Susquehanna. Including last week's victory, the Blue Jays have won their last six league openers.

At Home at Homewood: Johns Hopkins picked up its 14th straight regular season home victory with last week's 24-7 win against Susquehanna. The Blue Jays last lost a regular season home game on October 2, 2010 against Muhlenberg (30-27). That remains the only regular season home loss for the seniors on the 2013 team. Overall, the current seniors are 16-2 in the home blacks.

Road Warriors: Johns Hopkins has been nearly as strong on the road in recent years as it has been at home. Dating back to late in the 2010 season, the Blue Jays are 12-1 in their last 13 regular season road games. Taking it back farther, JHU is 24-6 (.800) on the road since the start of the 2008 season (regular season and post-season games included).

Sweet September: Johns Hopkins enters this week's game at Moravian having won 13 straight and 16 of its last 17 games in the month of September. The only team to beat JHU in the month of September in its last 17 games? Randolph-Macon, which posted a 41-37 win over JHU on September 11, 2010.

More September: Johns Hopkins has not lost a home game in the month of September since September 22, 2007, when Moravian escaped Homewood with a 44-41 victory. Since then the Blue Jays have won 10 straight at home in September.

Opening Day Record: The Johns Hopkins offense rolled up 551 yards in a 38-14 win at Randolph-Macon to open the season. The 551 yards are the most ever by a JHU football team in a season opener. The previous record of 510 yards came just one year ago, when the Blue Jays rushed for 344 yards and threw for 166 in a 36-13 win over Randolph-Macon at Homewood Field.

Move Those Chains-I: Johns Hopkins currently leads the nation with 64 first downs through two games. JHU rang up 35 in the season-opening win at Randolph-Macon and added 29 against Susquehanna. The Blue Jays are one of just two teams in the nation with more than 60 first downs in two games (Texas Lutheran-62).

Move Those Chains-II: The 35 first downs JHU accumulated vs. Randolph-Macon are the third-highest total in school history - the top three totals have come in JHU's last 19 games dating back to 2011. The school-record of 40 first downs came last season against Moravian. The 40 first downs vs. the Greyhounds last season are one shy of the NCAA Division III record.

Bidding for 3-0: Johns Hopkins improved to 2-0 for the third straight year with last week's win against Susquehanna. A win this week at Moravian would give the Blue Jays a 3-0 start for the third straight year and the fourth time in six years.

Sack Masters: The Johns Hopkins defense rang up nine sacks in last week's win against Susquehanna, the most a JHU team has recorded since October 18, 2008, when the Blue Jays recorded nine in a 14-0 win at Ursinus. Johns Hopkins is currently fourth in the nation in sacks per game (6.5) and the 78 yards in losses from JHU's 13 sacks this are the most in the nation. Eight different players have been in on at least one sack with junior Michael Longo leading the way with 3.5 through two games.

Rush Defense Among Nation's Best: Johns Hopkins allowed just 32 yards rushing on 41 attempts against Susquehanna and has now allowed a total of just 88 yards rushing through two games (44 yards/game). JHU currently ranks eighth in the nation in rushing yards allowed per game.

Double Your Pleasure: Johns Hopkins has rushed and passed for more than 200 yards in both of its games thus far this season. JHU has never rushed and passed for more than 200 yards in three consecutive game in its history.

Matey Out of the Gate Quickly: Senior Robbie Matey improved his career record to 14-2 as Johns Hopkins' starting quarterback with the two season-opening wins. Matey was 31-of-41 for 338 yards with two touchdowns and also rushed for 28 yards to account for 366 yards of total offense against Randolph-Macon and 20-of-29 for 242 yards with one TD and also rushed for 41 yards and two scores vs. Susquehanna. The 31 completions and 41 attempts against RMC are both career highs for Matey, while his 338 yards passing are the second-highest total of his career and the second-highest total ever by a JHU quarterback in a season opener. In addition, his 31 completions are tied for the fourth-highest single-game total in school history.

Spreading it Around: Senior quarterback Robbie Matey's career-best 31 completions at Randolph-Macon were spread pretty well as 11 different players had at least one reception and nine different players had two or more. Through two games the Blue Jays have eight different players with three or more receptions.
Senior Bob D'Orazio and sophomore Ryan Finkel are tied for the team lead with 11 receptions each, while freshman Bradley Mundy counts nine catches to his credit.

Many Happy Returns: Johns Hopkins has been steady, but not spectacular, on kickoff and punt returns in recent years. That may have all changed this season with the arrival of freshmen Bradley Munday and Adrian Trammell.
Munday had four punt returns for 67 yards against Susquehanna and ranks 11th in the nation - and first among freshmen - with his 16.8 yards per return average.
Trammell has four kickoff returns for 105 yards (26.2 yards/return) and ranks third in the Centennial Conference - and first among freshmen - in kickoff return average.

For Starters: Freshman place-kicker Nick Campbell has enjoyed a productive beginning to his career through two games. Campbell was good on all five of his extra-point attempts and nailed a 26-yard third-quarter field goal in the win at Randolph-Macon and came back to hit all three of his extra points and a 21-yard field goal against Susquehanna.

Carbone Continues Improvement: Senior Richie Carbone has been forced to punt just five times through two games, but he has once again shown improvement in his average. After averaging 34.5 yards as a sophomore, he bumped that up nearly two yards per attempt last season to 36.6 yards on 34 punts. Through two games this season he is averaging 39.0 yards per punt - a mark that ranks him third in the Centennial Conference.
Carbone is also a member of the Blue Jay baseball team and helped JHU to the Centennial Conference title and a berth in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional last spring. He played in 26 games with 19 starts in the outfield and also had four relief appearances on the mound as well.

JHU Ties Victory Record: Johns Hopkins posted a 10-2 record in 2012 and tied the school record for victories in a season. Only three times previously - 2003, 2009 & 2011 - had Hopkins won 10 games in a season. Johns Hopkins had never won more than seven games in a season prior to 2002, but the Blue Jays have posted eight or more wins nine times in the last 11 years.

Sustained Success: Since the start of the 2002 season the Blue Jays sport an 93-31 (.750) record. Taking it back farther the Blue Jays are 99-34 (.744) since the start of the 2001 season and 104-39 (.727) since the beginning of the 2000 season.

Seven's Heaven: Since the beginning of the 2003 season the Blue Jays are 84-21 (.800) when scoring more than seven points and 0-7 when they have been held to seven points or less.

Additional Notes and Player Notes of Interest Included in PDF Version: