Johns Hopkins-Susquehanna Football Notes

Johns Hopkins-Susquehanna Football Notes 

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The Game: Johns Hopkins (1-0) makes its first road trip of the 2012 season as the Blue Jays head north to Susquehanna (1-0). This is the first of five trips JHU will make to Pennsylvania this season.

On This Date: Jim Margraff made his head coaching debut on September 8, 1990 as the Blue Jays dropped a 22-20 decision at Catholic.

The Teams: Johns Hopkins and Susquehanna both got the 2012 season off to a quick start with victories in their season-openers. The Blue Jays ran past Randolph-Macon, 36-13, while the Crusaders picked up a 37-21 win over Merchant Marine.

Series History: Johns Hopkins leads the all-time series against Susquehanna, 6-3-1. JHU picked up a 56-7 win last season at Homewood Field and has won both games since SU joined the Centennial in 2010. A complete series history can be found on page 2.

For Openers: Johns Hopkins improved to 13-9-1 in season-openers under head coach Jim Margraff with the win over RMC and the Blue Jays have currently won 10 of their last 14 openers.

Home Openers: Johns Hopkins is now 16-6-1 in home openers under head coach Jim Margraff.

Road Openers: Johns Hopkins is 9-2 in its last 11 road openers dating back to 2001.

Centennial Openers: This week's game against Susquehanna is the first of nine straight Centennial Conference games the Blue Jays will play. Johns Hopkins is a league-best 19-10 all-time in Centennial openers since the league was formed in 1983. Currently, the Blue Jays have won their last four league openers.

I'm Honored: Sophomore LB Hani Annabi was named the Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Week after his 10-tackle effort in the win over Randolph-Macon last Saturday. Annabi added 1.5 tackles for losses, one sack and one forced fumble in the victory.

Poll Position: Johns Hopkins is the third team listed among those receiving votes in this week's d3football.com poll. The Blue Jays earned 79 points and trail just Centre (83) and Wisconsin-LaCrosse (83) among those teams just outside the top 25. Johns Hopkins is the only Centennial Conference school in the poll. The Johns Hopkins office of Athletic Communications uses the AFCA Poll to reflect Johns Hopkins' official ranking at the time of a game. The AFCA Poll for 2012 will debut later this season.

Sweet September: Johns Hopkins enters this week's game against Susquehanna having won seven straight and 10 of its last 11 games in the month of September. The only team to beat JHU in the month of September in its last 11 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.

Second Time's the Charm: Johns Hopkins has won its second game of the season 20 times in the last 21 years.

Regular Season Roll: The Blue Jays will put a 15-game regular-season winning streak on the line this week against Susquehanna. The streak, the longest such run in school history and the fourth-longest in Centennial Conference history, began with a 49-24 win at Susquehanna on October 23, 2010. The Blue Jays have outscored the opposition, 617-177, during the 15-game run.

Centennial Roll: The Blue Jays will put a 13-game Centennial Conference winning streak on the line this week against Susquehanna. The streak, the longest such run in school history and the third-longest in Centennial Conference history, began with a 49-24 win at Susquehanna on October 23, 2010.

Blue Jays Top 500 Yards in Opener: Johns Hopkins averaged a school record 492.7 yards per game last season and the Blue Jays picked up right where they left off a year ago in the season-opener against Randolph-Macon. The Blue Jays punched up 510 yards of total offense against the Yellow Jackets, the most ever in a season-opener by a JHU team.

Off and Running: One year after unleashing one of the top passing attacks in the country, Johns Hopkins opened the 2012 season by turning loose an equally effective ground attack.
The Blue Jays rushed for 344 yards on 49 carries (7.0) against the Yellow Jackets. The 344 yards are the 10th-highest single-game total in school history and the most for the Blue Jays since November 3, 2001, when JHU rushed for 386 yards in a 41-0 victory over Franklin & Marshall.

A Balanced Attack: The Blue Jays' 344 rushing yards against Randolph-Macon came on the strength of a balanced attack that featured three players with more than 70 yards.
Junior JD Abbott led the way with his first career 100-yard rushing game as he totaled 123 yards on 15 carries. Junior Jonathan Rigaud added 97 yards and two touchdowns, while freshman Brandon Cherry rushed for 70 yards and one touchdown in his first career game.
Rigaud pushed his career rushing total to 1,677 yards with 17 rushing touchdowns. He ranks 14th in school history in rushing yards and 11th in rushing touchdowns.

Wodicka Rolls On: Junior wide receiver Dan Wodicka picked up right where he left off last season in the win over Randolph-Macon as he had 11 receptions for 108 yards and one touchdown in the season-opening victory.
Wodicka improved his career totals to 133 receptions for 1,883 yards and nine touchdowns with his effort against Randolph-Macon. His 133 career receptions are the most of any active junior wide receiver in the nation (Division III) and he ranks eighth in school history in receptions and ninth in receiving yards.

Sack Masters: Johns Hopkins totaled six sacks in the season-opening win over Randolph-Macon, the most for the Blue Jays since they punched up seven in a win last season at Gettysburg.
Junior Andy Laychur posted a team-high two sacks in the win, while Joe DiTrolio, Hani Annabi, Michael Rocca and Mike Zikoski all added one. Zikoski's sack came in the end zone and resulted in a safety.

Defense Continues Run: The Blue Jay defense held Randolph-Macon to just 32 yards rushing on 40 attempts and 197 yards of total offense in last week's 36-13 season-opening victory. The effort, which came with seven new starters in the lineup, is the latest in a long line of strong efforts by the unit, which ranked among the nation's finest last season. Consider ...
• JHU finished in the top 25 nationally in total defense (10th/244.3), scoring defense (12th/13.1), pass defense (17th/141.2), sacks (21st/33) and rushing defense (25th/103.1).
• The Blue Jays' 11 opponents last season had 148 combined possessions against JHU - only 14 resulted in touchdowns. Three of the 17 overall TDs JHU allowed were scored by the opposition's defense/special teams.
• Hopkins has forced two or more turnovers in 28 of its last 37 games

Sustained Success: Since the start of the 2002 season the Blue Jays sport an 82-29 (.739) record. Taking it back farther the Blue Jays are 88-32 (.733) since the start of the 2001 season and 93-37 (.715) since the beginning of the 2000 season. The 74 wins the Blue Jays amassed from 2000-09 are the most wins in a decade in school history. Johns Hopkins had never won more than seven games in a season prior to this decade. In the decade completed in 2009, the Blue Jays averaged more than seven wins per season (7.4).

Seven's Heaven: Since the beginning of the 2003 season the Blue Jays are 73-20 (.785) when scoring more than seven points and 0-7 when they have been held to seven points or less.

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