BALTIMORE, MD – It hadn't happened since 1999 when Dan Wodicka took over as the Johns Hopkins football coach prior to the 2024 season.
"It" of course is the Blue Jays erasing a 17-point deficit to win. Now, 19 games into his head coach caeeer, Wodicka has seen his team do it twice, once in the first game of his career in a 27-23 win at Ithaca and again on Saturday, when his third-ranked team spotted #15/#17 Carnegie Mellon a 24-7 second-quarter lead before rallying for a 28-27 victory that was sealed by a late Carter Hogg interception and a fifth Johns Hopkins fourth-down conversion on the day.
The Blue Jays (5-0, 2-0 Centennial) found themselves down 17-0 before the game was 22 minutes old and were down 24-7 at the half after the teams traded touchdowns – a four-yard Bay Harvey run for the Blue Jays and a 21-yard Nick McCullough touchdown catch for the Tartans – in the final four minutes of the second quarter.
The Blue Jays put together their second 75-yard touchdown drive of the game to open the second half as they used nine plays and just under five minutes off the clock to trim the deficit to 24-14. A 13-yard Harvey-to-Josh Moore completion on fourth-and three- at the Blue Jay 45 kept the drive alive and Moore capped the drive with a 39-yard touchdown reception three plays later.
The Tartans (3-2, 1-1 Centennial) ate all but 69 seconds off the remainder of the third quarter as they answered the Moore touchdown with a 14-play, 73-yard drive that they capped with a 19-yard Justin Caputo field goal. The Tartans had a first-and-goal at the Blue Jay five-yard line, but three straight rushing plays netted just three yards and the Tartans had to settle for the Caputo field goal.
Already impacting the game on offense, Moore returned the kickoff after the Caputo field goal 77 yards to set the Blue Jays up at the Tartan 23-yard line late in the third quarter, but the CMU came up with a defensive stand that halted Hopkins inside the 10-yard line to maintain the 10-point lead.
Still, Moore's kickoff return flipped the field and it would be freshman Alex Orecchio's turn to make a big play on special teams a short time later as his 37-yard punt return set the Blue Jays up at the Tartan 23 again. This time, they cashed in as three straight Geoff Schroeder runs polished off a first-and-goal from the 10-yard line and made it a one-score game (27-21) with 7:51 on th clock.
After a quick three-and-out, the Blue Jays took over at their own 26 after a Tartan punt and Harvey orchestrated a five-play, 74-yard drive that he jump-started with a 30-yard completion to Moore and capped with a 36-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-two from the Tartan 36-yard line with 4:29 remaining. Brad Paxton's extra point gave the Blue Jays their first lead of the game (28-27) and set the stage for one last stand for the Blue Jay defense.
The Tartans got a 21-yard kickoff return to their own 33 after Harvey's touchdown and needed just two plays to move out to the 43-yard line. Two penalties – a false start and a delay of game – were wrapped around an incomplete pass to make it second-and-20 at the 33. A Joey McGinnis incompletion at midfield was followed by the Hogg interception with 2:32 on the clock.
Taking over at the 37 after Hogg's interception and needing a first down to seal the victory, the Blue Jays were faced with a fourth-and-three from the 30 with just over a minute remaining. There, it was Harvey capping a 59-yard rushing day with a five-yard run to the 25-yard line that put the game away for the Blue Jays.
Early on, the Tartans had built the 17-0 lead on the strength of two long scoring drives and a short field that led to a field goal. Brendan McCullough capped a 10-play, 76-yard game-opening drive with a one-yard touchdown reception and Anthony Vallano added a one-yard scoring reception of his own midway through the second quarter. In between, it was a 39-yard Caputo field goal that helped account for the quick 17-point Tartan lead.
That set the stage for the two late second-quarter touchdowns that landed the game at 24-7 at the break, but Moore's 39-yard touchdown reception to open the second half jump-started the 21-3 game-ending run that Harvey and Hogg capped with the late scoring run and interception, respectively.
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Moore enjoyed a career day as he has nine receptions for 146 yards and the one touchdown and added four kickoff returns for 150 yards to account for 296 all-purpose yards. The 296 all-purpose yards rank as the ninth-highest single-game total in school history.
• Harvey was 25-of-36 for 245 yards and the one touchdown and added the 59 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
• Jack Schondelmayer (8) and and Browning Trainer (8) tied for the team-lead in tackles for the Blue Jays with Hogg adding three tackles and one pass breakup to go along with his interception.
• Schroeder rushed 15 times for 54 yards and the one score and added four receptions for 34 yards.
Inside the Box Score – Carnegie Mellon
• McGinnis finished the day 20-of-32 for 307 yards and one touchdown and also rushed for 22 yards.
• Brendan McCullough was McGinnis's top target as he had seven receptions for 98 yards and the one touchdown, while his brother, Nick, added four receptions for 67 yards and one score.
• DJ Johnson, Leighton Tarke, Jack Lawson and Bennett Grace all posted eight tackles to lead the way defensively for the Tartans. CMU collected two sacks, seven tackles for loss, five pass breakups and also had a blocked punt that led to the Caputo field goal that made it 10-0.
Notes of Interest
• Today's come-from-behind win marks the seventh time since 1983 that Johns Hopkins has come from 17 points down or more to win a game.
• The Blue Jays are 7-0 under Wodicka in games decided by seven points or less.
• Johns Hopkins is 3-0 this season against teams that entered the game ranked in the top 25.
• JHU is 47-3 in its last 50 games in the month of October.
• Harvey's 59 rushing yards give him 1,042 in his career. He joins David Tamarro (2016-19) as the only two players in program history with more than 5,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing.
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Saturday, October 18 when the Blue Jays welcome Ursinus to Homewood Field (1 pm).
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Gallery: (10-11-2025) Football vs. Carnegie Mellon
