The Game
«  Johns Hopkins opens the 2023 season at home as the Blue Jays welcome Ithaca to Homewood Field for the first-ever meeting between the two teams.  Kickoff is set for 12 pm on Saturday, September 2.

A Look Back
«  Johns Hopkins posted 10-1 record, placed second in the Centennial Conference and topped Stevenson, 27-7, in the Centennial-MAC Bowl Series.
« Ithaca posted a 12-1 record, won the Liberty League title and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals before falling to eventual national champion North Central.

The Facts
«  This is the 138th season of Johns Hopkins football.  JHU first fielded a team in 1882.
«  Johns Hopkins enters this week's game with an all-time record of 584-489-57 (.543).
«  Since the start of the 2010 season, the Blue Jays are 120-20 (.857) overall and 98-10 (.907) in the Centennial Conference.
«  Overall, JHU owns 15 Centennial Conference titles (all won since 2002) and has qualified for the NCAA Playoffs 11 times (all since 2005).

Oh Captain, My Captain
«  In a vote of the team, four players were selected to serve as captains of the 2023 Johns Hopkins football team.
« Seniors Luke Schuermann (DL) and Spencer Uggla (RB) and juniors Garrett Brophy (OL) and Bay Harvey (QB) will lead the team as co-captains in 2023.  All four are in their first year as a captain.

Poll Position
«  Johns Hopkins is ranked 18th in the 2023 D3football.com Preseason Poll and the Blue Jays also drew a #25 preseason ranking from Lindy's.
« Ithaca checked in at #9 in the D3football.com Preseason Poll and the Bombers were ranked 19th by Lindy's.
«  Johns Hopkins was ranked 21st in the final AFCA and D3football.com Polls of the 2022 season, while Ithaca was 10th in the final AFCA and D3football.com Polls.

It's Been a While
«  This week's game against Ithaca marks the first time Johns Hopkins has opened a season at home since 2018.  That year, the Blue Jays broke open a close game and topped Randolph-Macon, 63-31, on the strength of a 28-point fourth-quarter run that turned a 35-31 lead into the 63-31 victory.
« Since that game in 2018, the Blue Jays opened on the road in 2019 (@ Randolph-Macon), 2021 (@ Stevenson) and 2022 (@ Case Western).  The 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the Blue Jays were scheduled to open the 2020 season at home against Stevenson.

For Openers
«  Johns Hopkins has won its last 11 season openers dating back to 2011.
«  During the 11-game winning streak in season openers, the Blue Jays have outscored the opposition 477-194 and only two of the 11 games have been decided by 15 points or less.

Home Openers
«  Johns Hopkins has won two straight and 10 of its last 11 home openers dating back to 2011.  The only loss in that time was a 28-27 setback to Susquehanna in 2019.
« Dating back to 2008, the Blue  Jays are 12-2 in their last 14 home openers with the two losses coming by a total of four points (28-27 to Susquehanna in 2019 and 30-27 to Muhlenberg in 2010).

Sweet September
«  Dating back to 2010, Johns Hopkins is 45-4 in the month of September.
«  Also dating back to 2010, the Blue Jays are 21-1 at home and 24-3 on the road in the month of September.

At Home at Homewood
«  Johns Hopkins ran its home winning streak to 12 games (dating back to 2019) with a perfect 6-0 mark at Homewood Field in 2022.
« The 12-game home winning streak is tied for the longest in school history.  JHU twice previously (2014-15 / 2017-18) won 12 consecutive home games.
«  Since the start of the 2010 season, the Blue Jays are 59-7 (.894) at Homewood Field.

Close Calls
«  Since the start of the 2013 season, Johns Hopkins has lost a total of 14 games.  Those 14 losses have come by a total of 83 points with setbacks by five, three, five, seven, four, three, two, eight, one, three, 15 (twice), 10 and two points.  Translation, 12 of Johns Hopkins' 14 losses since the start of the 2013 season have come by a touchdown or less.

On a Roll
«  Johns Hopkins is 106-8 in its last 114 regular season games dating back to late in the 2010 season.
«  The Blue Jays are 117-17 in their last 134 games overall since late in the 2010 season.
«  Dating back farther, Johns Hopkins is 183-45 (.803) since the start of the 2002 season, 189-48 (.797) since the start of the 2001 season and 194-53 (.785) since the start of the 2000 season.

Starting QB Streak at 11
«  Junior Bay Harvey is expected to get his first career start this week when the Blue Jays open the 2023 season at home against Ithaca.  When he does, he'll be looking to extend a remarkable streak for Johns Hopkins starting quarterbacks that dates back 17 years to the 2006 season.
« Including Ryan Stevens' win in his first start in the 2021 season-opener at Stevenson, 11 consecutive Johns Hopkins quarterbacks have won their first career start for the Blue Jays, a streak that started with Shane Kibbe's 21-14 win over Randolph-Macon early in that 2006 season.
« Under the direction of those first-time starting quarterbacks, Johns Hopkins has scored at least 32 points the last five times it debuted a new starting quarterback and 27 or more points nine straight times under the direction of a first-time starter at quarterback.

Record-Breaking
«  Senior Luke Schuermann set Johns Hopkins single-season records for tackles for loss (26.5) and sacks (14.0) last season.  He finished fourth in the nation in tackles for loss per game (2.4) and sixth in sacks per game (1.27).

Numbers to Note
«  Johns Hopkins allowed just 73.0 yards per game on the ground last season.  That is the fewest since at least 1955, when annual season stats are fully available.
« The Blue Jay offense scored at least 24 points in all 11 games last season and has reached that mark in 17 straight games dating back to midway through the 2021 season.

I'm Honored
«  Johns Hopkins returns two players who earned All-America honors in 2022.
« Senior Luke Schuermann (DL) was a First Team All-American by D3football.com and a Second Team All-American by the Associated Press, while graduate student  JR Woods (OL) was a Second Team D3football.com All-American.

More Honors
«  Of the 16 Johns Hopkins players who earned All-Centennial Conference honors in 2022, six return in 2023.
« Returning First Team All-Centennial selections include Garrett Brophy (OL), Luke Schuermann (DL) and JR Woods (OL).
« Michael Nwosu is the third returning All-CC performer on the offensive line as he grabbed second team honors last season.
« Rounding out JHU's returning All-CC performers are Josh Polce (WR) and EJ Talarico (RS), who earned honorable mention status in 2022.
« In addition to earning first team honors last season, Schuermann was also named the CC's Defensive Player of the Year, while Nwosu was the league's Rookie of the Year.

It's All Academic
«  One year after setting a national record with eight CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in 2021, Johns Hopkins once again led the nation as six Blue Jays earned College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-America status in 2022.  JHU's eight AAAs produced by one team, in any sport, in any division, in any year ... ever.
«  Among the six AAAs a year ago, two are back for the 2022 season and they include Luke Schuermann (DL / 2nd Team)  and JR Woods (OL / 2nd Team).
«  The six AAA selections for the football team in 2022 were part of a haul of 32 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans Johns Hopkins produced across all of its athletic programs in 2022-23 ... the 32 are a school record for one year and give Johns Hopkins 75 in the last three years.

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