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Game Notes | Hopkins welcomes Dickinson for home final

Posted on by Pranco
Game Notes | Hopkins welcomes Dickinson for home final


Xavier Newell (91), Carson Bourdo (11)

MARTY CORCORAN



Football


Ernie Larossa – Director of Athletic Communications


Blue Jays host Red Devils for Senior Day




The game
« Johns Hopkins (7-1, 4-0 Centennial) wraps up the home portion of the 2024 regular season schedule as the Blue Jays welcome Dickinson (5-3, 2-2 CC) to Homewood Field.

A look back
« Johns Hopkins pushed its winning streak to five with a 26-13 victory against Muhlenberg last Saturday.
« Dickinson defeated Gettysburg 34-14, winning the rivalry game against the Bullets and retaining possession of the “Bucket”.

In honor of our seniors
« Johns Hopkins will honor its seniors and graduate students prior to this week’s game. The senior class has helped Johns Hopkins to a 39-5 record with two Centennial titles (2021, 2023), two trips to the NCAA Playoffs (2021, 2023) and one Centennial-MAC Bowl victory (2022) since his arrival.

Victory number 600
« Johns Hopkins picked up its 600th win in program history with a 51-7 win at Gettysburg on Oct. 11.
« With last week’s win against Muhlenberg, Johns Hopkins improved his all-time record to 603-491-57 (.549).

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 603-491-57 (.549).
« In total, 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 is ranked No. 19 in this week’s AFCA Poll and 21st in the D3football.com Poll.
« Since the AFCA first debuted its poll in 1999, this week’s No. 19 ranking marks the 140th time in 255 polls that the Blue Jays have appeared in the top 25.
« The Blue Jays are ranked in the D3football.com Top-25 for the 162nd time in 269 polls since D3football launched its poll in 2003.

Government of November
« Entering this week’s game against Dickinson, Johns Hopkins is 47-5 in regular season games played in the month of November this century, including 28-2 since 2010.
« JHU has not lost a home game in November since 2007. The Blue Jays have won 18 straight regular-season home games since a 19-11 loss to F&M in November
2007.
« This century, Johns Hopkins is 25-2 in regular season home games in the month of November.
« The Blue Jays are 16-2 in their last 18 regular season road games in the month of November, dating back to 2007.

A centennial snapshot
« There is much more clarity in the race for the Centennial Conference title and the league’s automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Playoffs this week.
« Here’s a quick look at the teams with the most direct path to the title (shared or outright) and NCAA playoff bid. Please note that there may be other scenarios at play. These are the most direct paths for each of the five surviving teams participating in this week’s game.

• John Hopkins wins the title outright with two wins. A win this week secures the Blue Jays’ automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs.
• Ursinus wins the title outright with two wins and two losses at the hands of Johns Hopkins.
• Dickinson takes a share of the title and takes the automatic bid with two wins and two losses from Johns Hopkins.
• There is a path for this week’s winner Franklin & Marshall-Mühlenberg match to grab a share of the title, but it doesn’t seem like there’s a way for either team to grab the play-off bid. The loser of the F&M-Muhlenberg duel is eliminated from the race.

Strength in numbers
« The 10 opponents on Johns Hopkins’ 2024 schedule are currently a combined 46-26 (.639). Based on opponent winning percentage, this ranks as the ninth-toughest schedule in the country.
« The eight opponents Johns Hopkins has played against this season currently have a combined record of 40-16 (.714). Based on the opponent’s winning percentage, this is the second most difficult schedule played to date.
« Johns Hopkins, entering this week’s game against Dickinson, is the only team in the country whose opponents have combined for 40 wins this season.

Different week, same story
« The Johns Hopkins defense turned in another exceptional performance in last week’s win against Muhlenberg.
« The Blue Jays held the Mules to just 13 points, which was 32 points lower than their season average entering the game. Additionally, the 321 yards allowed against the Mules were nearly 190 fewer than Muhlenberg averaged entering the game.
« JHU has allowed a total of 33 points in its last four games. That’s the fewest the Blue Jays have allowed in a four-game span since holding Juniata (5), Dickinson (7), Gettysburg (7) and Urisnus (13) to 32 in 2015.
« The Blue Jays have held six of eight opponents to 13 points or fewer and are allowing just 14.1 points per game. JHU ranks second in the Centennial and 30th in the nation in scoring defense.

Defense among Centennial’s best
“Johns Hopkins’ defense continues to rank among the best in the Centennial Conference in virtually every statistical category.
« Entering this week’s game, Johns Hopkins ranks second in scoring defense (14.1) and third in total defense (306.3) and rushing defense (115.0) and fourth in pass defense (191.3 ).
The Blue Jays also lead the league in pass efficiency defense (94.2), have allowed a league-high three touchdown passes and the opposition is completing 51.1% of their league-leading pass attempts.
« The three touchdown passes the Blue Jays have allowed are the second-fewest in the nation in Division III. Marietta has allowed just two TD passes this season, while Maryville (TN) has also allowed just three TD passes this year.

I am honored
« Johns Hopkins has won the Centennial Conference Offensive (James Rinello) and Defensive Player of the Week (Carson Bourdo) awards after last week’s win against Muhlenberg.
« Rinello was 23 of 36 for 249 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for a game-high 84 yards in the win. His numbers for attempts, completions and rushing yards are all career highs, while his two touchdown passes matched his personal best.
« Bourdo had seven tackles, two interceptions and one pass breakup in the win against the Mules. His two interceptions both came in the fourth quarter and both came in Blue Jay territory. His second interception came on the final play of the game as the Mules were looking for a game-tying touchdown and he returned it 70 yards for a touchdown as time expired to seal the victory.

At home at Homewood
« Including the recent win against Muhlenberg, the Blue Jays have enjoyed a dominant recent run at Homewood Field.
« Since the start of the 2014 season, the Blue Jays are 53-6 (.898) at Homewood Field; they are 69-9 (.885) at Homewood since 2010.
« JHU won a school-record 19 consecutive games at home from midway through the 2019 season through the 2023 NCAA quarterfinals.

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