The Game
« Johns Hopkins (5-1, 2-0 Centennial) hits the road for a key Centennial Conference matchup at Ursinus (6-0, 2-0 Centennial). The game pits the last two unbeaten teams in league play. Kickoff is set for 1 pm on Saturday, October 26 at Patterson Field.
A Look Back
« Johns Hopkins improved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the Centennial as the Blue Jays topped Franklin & Marshall, 13-6, at Homewood Field last Saturday.
« Ursinus went on the road and remained unbeaten with a 49-7 win at William Paterson last Saturday.
Victory Number 600
« Johns Hopkins grabbed the 600th victory in program history with a 51-7 win at Gettysburg on October 11.
« With the win last week against F&M, Johns Hopkins improved its all-time record to 601-491-57 (.548).
The Facts
« This is the 139th 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 601-491-57 (.548).
« Overall, JHU owns 16 Centennial Conference titles (all won since 2002) and has qualified for the NCAA Playoffs 12 times (all since 2005).
Poll Position
« Johns Hopkins checks in at #20 in this week's AFCA Poll and is 23rd in the D3football.com Poll.
« Since the AFCA debuted its poll in 1999, this week's #20 ranking marks the 138th time in 253 polls that the Blue Jays have appeared in the top 25.
« The Blue Jays are in the D3football.com Top-25 for the 160th time in 267 polls since D3football launched its poll in 2003.
Oktoberfest
« Johns Hopkins flipped the calendar to October with the recent game against Rowan and the month has been good to the Blue Jays of late.
« Including last week's win against F&M, the Blue Jays have won 44 of their last 47 games in the month of October dating back to 2010.
« The Blue Jays had been just 10-8 in their previous 18 games in the month of October before jump-starting the current 47-game run with a 49-24 win at Susquehanna (10-23-2010).
« During their October run dating back to 2010, the Jays have lost just once at home.
Random, But Noteworthy
« Johns Hopkins' next three opponents (Ursinus, Muhlenberg, Dickinson) are a combined 14-4 (.778).
« The 10 opponents on Johns Hopkins' 2024 schedule are currently a combined 34-20 (.630). By opponent winning percentage, this ranks as the 12th most difficult schedule in the nation.
« Johns Hopkins rang up a season-high 582 yards of total offense on October 11 at Gettysburg. This marked the 81st time in school history that JHU has topped the 500-yard mark ... the Blue Jays are 80-1 in those 81 games.
Defense Among Centennial's Best
« The Johns Hopkins defense continues to rank among the Centennial Conference's best in virtually every statistical category.
« Entering this week's game, Johns Hopkins ranks second in scoring defense (15.5), total defense (282.8) and passing defense (171.0) and third in rushing defense (111.8).
« The Blue Jays also lead the league in pass efficiency defense (92.4), have allowed a league-low two touchdown passes, and the opposition is completing a league-low 50.3% of its pass attempts.
« The two touchdown passes the Blue Jays have allowed are tied for the second-fewest in the nation in Division III. Only Western Connecticut, which has allowed just one TD pass this season, has given up fewer than Johns Hopkins.
More Defense
« The 144 yards JHU allowed at CNU earlier this season marked the first time JHU has held a team under 150 yards since the Jays limited Gettysburg to 139 on Oct. 22, 2022.
« The three points the Blue Jays held CNU to were the fewest the Captains have scored in a home game since 2003.
Still More Defense
« Johns Hopkins held F&M to six points in last week's 13-6 victory.
« The six points allowed mark the fourth time in six games that the Blue Jays have allowed 13 points or less.
A Final Defense
« The Blue Jay defense has not allowed a point in the first quarter since the first game of the season at Ithaca.
« JHU allowed two touchdowns at Ithaca in the first 7:20 of the game, but the Jays held the Bombers scoreless for the final 7:40 and didn't allow a point in the first quarter against Christopher Newport, Salisbury, Rowan, Gettysburg or F&M.
« By minutes, this amounts to a first-quarter scoreless streak of 82:40 for Blue Jay opponents.
Paxton Giving Jays a Leg Up
« Johns Hopkins freshman kicker Brad Paxton entered the Blue Jay record book in the win at Gettysburg. For his efforts, he was honored as the Centennial Conference Special Teams Player of the Week.
« Paxton hit all six of his extra points and was 3-for-3 on field goals as he was good from 27, 20 and 30 yards in the victory against the Bullets. His 15 points tied the Johns Hopkins single-game record for points by a kicker (see chart to the above right).
« Entering this week's game at Ursinus, Paxton is 13-of-14 on extra points and has hit 7-of-9 field goals on the year. His seven field goals are tied for the Centennial Conference lead and rank as the third most by a freshman in Johns Hopkins history (Alex Lachman-11 (2007), Nick Campbell-10 (2013).
Rich Inches Closer to 1,000
« Senior Andrew Rich rushed for a team-high 84 yards on nine carries at Gettysburg and added 17 yards against F&M to inch closer to 1,000 for his career.
« Rich enters this week's game needing just 38 yards to become the 31st player in program history to top 1,000 career rushing yards.
Talarico Closing on Kane's Record
« Senior EJ Talarico had one kickoff return for 20 yards at Gettysburg and enters this week's game against Ursinus within striking distance of the school record for kickoff return yardage.
« In his career, Talarico has returned 51 kickoffs for 1,183 yards, which leaves him just 77 yards shy of overtaking Bruce Kane (1,259 yards / 1977-80) as JHU's career kickoff return yardage leader.
Road Warriors
« Johns Hopkins went a perfect 5-0 on the road in 2023 and won its ninth consecutive road game with the win at Gettysburg on October 11.
« The current nine-game road winning streak is tied for the fourth-longest road winning streak in program history.
« The current nine-game road winning streak is tied for the sixth-longest active road winning streak in the nation.
« In their last 22 road games dating back to 2019, the Blue Jays are 19-3. All three losses came against teams ranked in the top 20 at the time of the game (#6 Muhlenberg-2019 | #4 Mount Union-2021 | #18 Susquehanna-2022).
« Dating back to 2013, JHU is 52-9 overall on the road (48-5 in the regular season).
Craddock, Peters Closing on 150
« Seniors Oliver Craddock and Cole Peters are in a virtual dead-heat in the race to the 150-career tackle mark.
« Craddock currently ranks second on the team in tackles this season (37) and has 147 career tackles to his credit to rank as JHU's active career leader.
« Peters counts a team-high 48 tackles to his credit this season and sits exactly one tackle behind Craddock with 146 career tackles to his credit.
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