Johns Hopkins-Ursinus Football Notes

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The Game: Johns Hopkins (7-0, 6-0 Centennial) plays the first of two consecutive games on the road as the Blue Jays make the trip to Collegeville, Pennsylvania to take on Ursinus (6-1, 5-1 CC).

A Look Back: Johns Hopkins improved to 7-0 on the year and ran its regular season winning streak to 18 games as the Blue Jays topped Gettysburg, 37-14, at Homewood Field last Friday night. Ursinus set up this week's showdown with a 44-14 Homecoming victory against Susquehanna last Saturday.

Poll Position: Johns Hopkins is ranked ninth in this week's AFCA Division III Poll and ninth in this week's D3football.com Poll. The Blue Jays also check in at number three in this week's Lambert Meadowlands Poll. The number nine ranking in the D3football.com Poll is the highest in school history (in that poll), while this is the 15th time Johns Hopkins has been ranked in the top 10 by the AFCA.
Ursinus is receiving votes in the AFCA Poll this week.

Ranking Streaks: Johns Hopkins is ranked in the top 20 of the AFCA Poll for the 35th consecutive week dating back to early in the 2011 season and in the top 25 for the 36th consecutive week.

November Reign: Entering this week's game against Ursinus, Johns Hopkins is 13-1 in its last 14 regular season games in the month of November dating back to 2008. Including the post-season, the Blue Jays are 16-5 in their last 21 games in November (also dating to 2008).

More November: Johns Hopkins is 15-1 in its last 16 regular season home games in the month of November. Since the start of the 2001 season, JHU's only loss at home in the regular season in November came in 2007, when F&M took a 19-11 decision.

Can't Get More Even: The success of the Johns Hopkins football team since the start of the 2001 season has been well documented. Amazingly, that success has been nearly identical on the road and at home. Dating back to the start of the 2001 season, Johns Hopkins has played 75 home games and is 57-18 in those games.
Remarkably, head coach Jim Margraff's team has been just as successful on the road as the Blue Jays are 57-17 in 74 games away from Homewood Field during that time.

Quick Starts: Johns Hopkins is 7-0 for the fourth straight year and the sixth time since 2003. Prior to 2003, Johns Hopkins hadn't started a season with seven straight wins since 1891!

Did You Know: While this week's game doesn't fall on the exact date, it was 10 years ago this week that Johns Hopkins last had a player start on offense and defense in the same game.
It was on October 30, 2004 that junior Brian Schiller got the start at quarterback and cornerback for the Blue Jays in a key late-season game at Ursinus.
Making the first start of his career in place of injured regular Zach DiIonno, Schiller was 10-of-20 for 143 yards with two TDs and two INTs. He also rushed 14 times for 47 yards.
Defensively, Schiller did not record any statistics and did not play the entire game on defense, but his efforts on offense helped rally JHU from an early 14-0 deficit for a 20-14 victory. The win helped JHU stay in contention for a third straight Centennial Conference title, which they would secure later that season with a 12-9 win against McDaniel.

Margraff Ties State Record: Johns Hopkins head coach Jim Margraff sports a career record of 174-82-3 (.678) entering this week's game against Ursinus. With one more win, he will become the winningest college football coach in Maryland state history. He pulled into a tie for first place on the stats victory chart with last week's 37-14 win over Gettysburg. He is currently tied at the top with Morgan State's legendary Eddie Hurt, who won 174 games from 1929-59.

Margraff 10th on Division III Victories List: Johns Hopkins head coach Jim Margraff picked up career victory number 174 with the win last week vs. Gettysburg. In addition to ranking as the winningest coach in school history and tied as the winningest coach in state history, Margraff also ranks 10th among active NCAA Division III coaches in career victories

Balanced Ground Game Leading Offense: Three players are leading the Johns Hopkins ground game this season as sophomore Stuart Walters, junior Brandon Cherry and sophomore Dionisio Roman have combined for 1,162 yards and 14 touchdowns in seven games. This doesn't even include the efforts of senior quarterback Braden Anderson, who has rushed for 202 yards and a team-high seven TDs.
With this trio leading the way, Johns Hopkins is averaging 234.4 yards per game on the ground and has 24 rushing touchdowns on the year. JHU ranks second in the Centennial in rushing yards per game and leads the CC in rushing TDs. Below is look at JHU's three top running backs:

Stuart Walters - Leads the Blue Jays in rushing with 552 yards and also has four touchdowns ? Ranks sixth in the Centennial in rushing yards per game (78.9), third in kickoff return average (24.3) and seventh th in all-purpose yards per game (108.9) ? Ranks 20th in school history in rushing yards (1,215) ? Averaging 5.8 yards per rush this season and 5.7 in his career.

Brandon Cherry - Ranks second on the team in rushing yards with 395 and has four touchdowns as well ? Also has 11 receptions for 104 yards and one TD ? Ranks12th in the Centennial in rushing yards per game (65.8) ? Ranks 15th in school history in rushing yards (1,633) and tied for 13th in rushing TDs (15) ? Has averaged 6.1 yards per carry in his career.

Dionisio Roman - Ranks third on the team in rushing yards with 215 and second with six rushing TDs to his credit ? Has the longest run on the team this season (46T vs. Juniata) ? Has nine rushing TDs on 75 career carries (one every 8.3 carries).

Anderson Breaks Out: Senior Braden Anderson has quietly jumped up among the Centennial Conference leaders in several statistical categories with his recent efforts against Muhlenberg, Juniata, Dickinson and Gettysburg.
On the year, Anderson is 124-of-181 (.685) for 1,523 yards with 14 touchdowns against four INTs. He has also rushed for 202 yards and a team-high seven TDs. Anderson has had a hand in 21 (14 passing ? 7 rushing) of JHU's 39 touchdowns on the year.
Anderson currently leads the CC in pass efficiency (160.29) and ranks third in pass yards per game (217.6) and total offense (246.4). He also leads the league in completion percentage and his 14 TD passes are tied for the most in the league. Anderson has been at his best in JHU's last three wins against Mulenberg, Juniata, Dickinson and Gettysburg as he combined to go 79-of-109 (.725) for 1,039 yards with 13 TDs against just one intercpetion. In the win against Dickinson he also rushed for a career-high 64 yards and two touchdowns.

Deep Receiving Corps Excels: Senior quarterback Braden Anderson has done a good job spreading the ball around thus far this season as 16 different players have at least one reception and six players have 10 or more catches on the year. Like the rushing attack, there are several players fueling a passing attack that is accounting for 229.6 yards per game. The leaders include ...

Quinn Donaldson - Ranks second on the team with 27 receptions, which have gone for a team-high 432 yards and three TDs ? Ranks seventh in the Centennial in receiving yards per game (61.7) and 13th in receptions per game (3.86) ? 16.0 yards per reception is second-best in the CC among players with 20 or more receptions ? Had four receptions for 93 yards and two scores at Muhlenberg and four receptions for 86 yards at Dickinson.

Bradley Munday - Leads the team with 29 receptions, which have gone for 416 yards and four scores ? Ranks sixth in the Centennial in receptions per game (4.83) and receiving yards per game (69.3) ? Enjoyed the best day of his career at Muhlenberg as he had 13 receptions for 150 yards and one touchdown - 13 receptions and 150 yards are both career highs, while his 56-yard TD reception with just over two minutes remaining in regulation sealed the victory. Added two receptions for 73 yards, including a 66-yard TD reception, at Dickinson ... 66-yard reception was the longest of his career ... and six receptions for 124 yards and a 50-yard TD reception vs. Gettysburg.
Munday's 13 receptions against Muhlenberg are the most by a Johns Hopkins player since Dan Wodicka had 13 at McDaniel in 2011, while his 150 receiving yards are the most since Wodicka had 159 in that same game against McDaniel in 2011.

Ryan Finkel - Ranks third on the team in receptions (15) and receiving yards (157) ? Had five receptions for 49 yards and one TD vs. Juniata and notched the 50th reception of his career in the win over the Eagles.

In Case You Didn't Notice: Johns Hopkins has 140 completed passes through seven games. Of those, 139 of the 140 have been caught by players who will return next season.

Defense Among Centennial's Best: While the Blue Jay offense grabs a lot of the headlines, the Johns Hopkins defense is enjoying a strong year as well. Through seven games the Blue Jays are allowing just 14.0 points and 313.4 yards per game. The opposition is averaging just 3.8 yards per rushing attempt and has converted just 32-of-109 (.294) third down opportunities.

More Defense: In addition to allowing just 14.0 points per game, the Blue Jay defense has forced 17 turnovers and generated 18 sacks in seven games. Hopkins' 17 caused turnovers rank second in the Centennial, while the 18 sacks rank third.

Still More Defense: Johns Hopkins' 17 forced turnovers is seven games this season are already three more than the Blue Jays caused in 11 games last season.

Good Hands Team: The Johns Hopkins defense came up with just eight interceptions in 11 games during the 2013 season. Through seven games this season, the Blue Jays already have 12 to their credit with three against Randolph-Macon, Moravian and Juniata and one against Susquehanna, Dickinson and Gettysburg.
Sophomore Jack Toner leads the way with three INTs on the year, while classmate Garrett Spek and senior Ryan Rice have a pair of intercpetions to their credit. Brady Watts, Sebastian Edwards, Keith Corliss and Lance Hammand all have one thus far.

Hammond First DL in Five Years With an INT: Freshman defensive lineman Lance Hammond came up with the first interception of his career in the 42-7 win at Dickinson. His INT killed a Red Devil scoring threat at the Johns Hopkins 14-yard line. Hammond is the first Johns Hopkins defensive lineman to record an interception since Glenn Rocca had one in a 23-7 win at Hampden-Sydney in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Playoffs. Amazingly, Rocca had three interceptions that season.

Hitting the Century Mark: Johns Hopkins had two players reach the 100-tackle mark for their career vs. Moravian and another reach the mark in the win against Juniata. Current players with 100+ tackles ...

? Junior linebacker Keith Corliss has 129 career tackles in 27 career games played. He also counts 5.5 TFLs, four PBUs, 1.5 sacks, one interception and one fumble recovery to his credit. He posted 10 tackles at Dickinson and six more against Gettysburg to run his team-high total to 47 tackles on the year.

? Senior defensive end Michael Longo leads all defensive linemen with 30 tackles this season and also leads the team with 8.5 TFLs and 5.0 sacks. He now has 120 tackles, 28.5 TFLs and 17.5 sacks in his career.

? Senior safety Ryan Rice became the latest JHU player to eclipse the 100-tackle mark when he got there against Juniata. Rice now has 106 tackles in his career, including 19 this season. In addition, his 16 career PBUs and six career INTs are the most among all active Johns Hopkins players.

? Senior Hani Annabi is JHU's active career leader in tackles with 142. He missed the first five games of the season, but has seen action in the last two games and has a pair of tackles to his credit.

JHU Ties Victory Record: Johns Hopkins posted a 10-1 record in 2013 and tied the school record for victories in a season. Only four times previously - 2003, 2009, 2011 and 2012 - 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 10 times in the last 12 years.

Centennial Conference Champions: Johns Hopkins claimed its ninth Centennial Conference title last season with all nine championships coming since 2002. JHU's nine CC titles are tied for the most in league history with Dickinson and Muhlenberg.

Centennial Favorites: For the sixth consecutive year and the ninth time in the last 11 years Johns Hopkins was selected as the favorite in the league's preseason poll of coaches and SIDs. The Blue Jays received 14 of 20 first-place votes and totaled 158 points to out-distance Muhlenberg, which checked in at number two in the poll with six first-place votes and 147 points.

A Return to the NCAAs: Johns Hopkins made its third straight and fifth overall appearance in the NCAA Playoffs last season. The Blue Jays are 3-5 all-time in NCAA action with a trip to the 2009 NCAA Quarterfinals and an appearance in the second round in 2012 highlighting their playoff history.

On a Roll: Johns Hopkins is 40-1 in its last 41 regular season games dating back to late in the 2010 season. The only team to top the Blue Jays duirng that run? Franklin & Marshall, which topped the Blue Jays, 14-12, in 2012. JHU's 41-game regular season run began with a 49-24 win at Susquehanna on October 23, 2010.

On A Roll, Part II: Johns Hopkins is 42-4 in its last 46 games overall since late in the 2010 season. Three of the Blue Jays' four losses during that time have come in the NCAA Playoffs.

At Home at Homewood: Johns Hopkins has parlayed its home field advantage into victories in recent years. In fact, the Blue Jays are 24-3 (.889) in the home blacks since the start of the 2010 season.

Sustained Success: Since the start of the 2002 season the Blue Jays sport a 108-32 (.771) record. Taking it back farther the Blue Jays are 114-35 (.765) since the start of the 2001 season and 119-40 (.748) since the beginning of the 2000 season.

Seven's Heaven: Since the beginning of the 2003 season the Blue Jays are 99-23 (.811) when scoring more than seven points and 0-7 when they have been held to seven points or less.

- Pride and Poise -