Johns Hopkins Game Notes (PDF)
The Game
« Johns Hopkins (11-1) returns to Homewood Field as the Blue Jays welcome Mary Hardin-Baylor (8-3) to Baltimore for an NCAA Quarterfinal game. The game will air live on ESPN+ with a 12:02 pm kickoff.
A Look Back
« Johns Hopkins pushed its winning streak to nine with a 14-9 win at DePauw in the third round of the NCAA Playoffs last Saturday (December 7).
« Mary Hardin-Baylor made it four straight wins overall and three straight on the road in the NCAAs as the Cru went to Linfield last Saturday and scored a 28-18 victory.
How They Got Here
« Johns Hopkins earned an automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Division III Football Playoffs as the Blue Jays went a perfect 6-0 in Centennial Conference play to earn the league's automatic bid.
« Mary Hardin-Baylor earned one of the 12 at-large bids to the NCAA Playoffs.
What's Next
« The winner of the Johns Hopkins-Mary Hardin-Baylor game will play the winner of the Salisbury-Mount Union game in the NCAA Semifinals on Saturday, December 21. The location and time of that game will be announced on Sunday, December 15.
Victory Number 600
« Johns Hopkins grabbed the 600th victory in program history with a 51-7 win at Gettysburg on October 11.
« Including the win at DePauw Johns Hopkins improved its all-time record to 607-491-57 (.550).
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 607-491-57 (.550).
« Overall, JHU owns 17 Centennial Conference titles (all 17 won since 2002) and has qualified for the NCAA Playoffs 13 times (all 13 since 2005).
Poll Position
« Johns Hopkins checks in at #17 in the most recent AFCA Poll and is 19th in the D3football.com Poll.
« Since the AFCA debuted its poll in 1999, the #17 ranking marks the 142nd time in 257 polls that the Blue Jays have appeared in the top 25.
« The Blue Jays are in the D3football.com Top-25 for the 164th time in 271 polls since D3football debuted its poll in 2003.
Playoff History
« Johns Hopkins is making its 13th trip to the NCAAs, including its 11th since 2011.
« Including last week's win against DePauw, the Blue Jays are 14-12 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with a run to the 2018 NCAA Semifinals and three trips to the NCAA Quarterfinals (2009, 2023, 2024) highlighting their playoff history.
« In addition to the above, the Blue Jays also advanced to the second round of the playoffs in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2021.
« Johns Hopkins is 9-5 all-time in NCAA Playoff games at Homewood Field and 5-7 in NCAA Playoff road games.
Quarterfinal Regulars
« Dating back to 2018 (six NCAA Tournaments), there are seven teams that have made three or more trips to the NCAA Quarterfinals; Johns Hopkins (3) and Mary Hardin-Baylor (5) are two of the seven.
« UMHB's five trips to the quarterfinals in the last six tournaments are tied for the most in the nation (North Central). During that same time, Wisconsin-Whitewater and Mount Union have advanced to the quarterfinals four times, while Johns Hopkins, Muhlenberg and Bethel have all advanced three times.
« The Centennial Conference is the only conference in the nation that has two teams that have advanced to the quarterfinals at least three times since 2018 (JHU-3, Muhlenberg-3).
It's Been a While
« With wins over Grove City by a score of 17-14 and DePauw by a score of 14-9 in the last two weeks, Johns Hopkins has done something that hasn't been done in the NCAA Division III Football Playoffs since 2010.
« With those two wins, Johns Hopkins is the first team to win two consecutive Division III Football Playoff games with 17 or fewer points scored since Bethel turned the trick in 2010. That year, Bethel topped Wheaton (IL), 15-10, in the second round and St. Thomas (MN), 12-7, in the quarterfinals before falling in the semifinals at Mount Union.
Series History
« This week's game between Johns Hopkins and Mary Hardin-Baylor will be the first between the two teams in football. In fact, there is no record of a head-to-head meeting between Johns Hopkins and Mary Hardin-Baylor in any athletic event.
Against the ASC
« In addition to being the first-ever game for the Blue Jays against the Cru, this week's game will also be the first for Johns Hopkins against a team that currently competes in the American Southwest Conference (East Texas Baptist, Hardin-Simmons, Howard Payne, Mary Hardin-Baylor).
December Football
« Dating back to 1900, Johns Hopkins will play its sixth game in the month of December this week against Mary Hardin-Baylor. Dates for games played before 1900 are not all available.
« JHU fell at Wesley in the 2009 NCAA Quarterfinals (12-0) on December 5, topped RPI in the 2018 NCAA Quarterfinals (37-14) on December 1 before falling at Mount Union (28-20) a week later (Dec. 8) in the NCAA Semifinals. Last season, JHU fell to Randolph-Macon (39-36) in the NCAA Quarterfinals on December 2 and added last week's 14-9 win at DePauw to its December resume.
« This week's game will be the latest game, by date, on record in Johns Hopkins' football history.
Defense Leading the Way
« The Blue Jays have held nine of 12 opponents to 13 points or less and 10 of 12 to 14 or less and are allowing just 11.3 points per game. JHU leads the Centennial and is tied for third in the nation in scoring defense.
« All 12 Blue Jay opponents to-date have been held under their season scoring average in their game against Johns Hopkins. Only two - Ithaca and Salisbury - have come within 10 points of its season scoring average against the Blue Jays and seven have been held 14 or more points below their average. McDaniel was held scoreless by the Blue Jays, but entered the game averaging less eight points per game (so technically the Green Terror were also within 10 points of their season scoring average).
Defense Among Centennial, NCAA Best
« The Johns Hopkins defense ranked among the Centennial Conference's best in virtually every statistical category this season and also ranks among the national leaders in several categories.
« Entering this week's game, Johns Hopkins leads the nation in red zone defense (.500), is third nationally in scoring defense (11.3) and eighth in pass efficiency defense (99.3).
« The Blue Jays have also allowed a national-low (Division III) five touchdown passes and the opposition is completing just 53.1% of its pass attempts. In all divisions of the NCAA, only three teams have allowed fewer TD passes than Johns Hopkins' five; Texas (4), Ohio State (4) and North Carolina Central (4).
Don't Leave Early
« Unlike some recent years, a number of Johns Hopkins games have been decided in the last two minutes this season. Below is quick look at Hopkins' seven last-minute finishes of note. Remarkably, it's been the Blue Jay defense on the field at the end of each of the seven games.
• Carson Bourdo intercepts a pass near midfield with 1:14 remaining to seal a 27-23 season-opening win at Ithaca.
• Carter Hogg intercepts a Rowan pass in the end zone with 18 seconds on the clock to preserve a 20-13 victory.
• A Jake Spivak interception at the Blue Jay 25-yard line with 1:40 remaining locks up a 13-6 win over Franklin & Marshall.
• PJ Penders intercepts an Ursinus pass a the goal line with 1:52 on the fourth-quarter clock to polish off a 16-7 win at then unbeaten Ursinus.
• Carson Bourdo intercepts a pass at the Blue Jay 30-yard line on the final play of the game and returns it for a touchdown to finish off a 26-13 victory over Muhlenberg.
• The Blue Jay defense forces three straight Grove City incompletions from first-and-goal at the 10 in the final minute and the Wolverines then hit the upright on a potential game-tying field goal attempt with nine seconds remaining in a 17-14 Johns Hopkins victory in the second round of the NCAA Playoffs.
• Up 14-9 with 1:47 on the clock after misfiring on a field goal attempt, the Blue Jays watch as DePauw moves to a first-and-goal from the one-yard line with just under 30 seconds remaining. There, the Blue Jays hold off the Tigers for a dramatic five-point win in the third round of the NCAA Playoffs.
At Home at Homewood
« Including the recent win against Grove City, the Blue Jays have enjoyed a dominant recent run at Homewood Field.
« Since the start of the 2014 season, the Blue Jays are 55-6 (.902) at Homewood Field; they are 71-9 (.888) at Homewood since 2010.
« JHU won a school-record 19 consecutive games at home from midway through the 2019 season until the 2023 NCAA Quarterfinal.
Streaking
« Johns Hopkins ran its winning streak to nine games with last week's 14-9 win at DePauw in the third round of the NCAA Playoffs. The streak is tied for the fifth-longest active winning streak in the nation entering this week's game against Mary Hardin-Baylor.
« Salisbury will carry a national-best 14-game streak into this week's action, with Mount Union (12), North Central (12) and Springfield (12) also having streaks of 12+. The Blue Jays' current nine-game run is tied with Susquehanna for the fifth-longest active streak.
« The nine-game run is also the 10th-longest winning streak in program history and the 12th winning streak of eight games or more in program history. Remarkably, all 12 streaks of 8+ wins have occurred since 2002.
Win #11 ... Looking for 12
« With an 11-1 record on the year, Johns Hopkins enters this week's NCAA Quarterfinal game having secured another 10-win season.
« The over Grove City in the second round of the playoffs pushed JHU's record to 10-1 and this marks the 13th time Johns Hopkins has won 10 or more games in a season with 13 instances coming since 2003.
« Prior to 2002 (when JHU went 9-2), Johns Hopkins had never won more than seven games in a season, but the Blue Jays have averaged 9.3 wins per season since then.
« Now, with an 11-1 mark on the year, the Blue Jays are one win shy of reaching the 12-win mark for just the third time in program history. Johns Hopkins won a school-record 12 games in 2018 (12-2) and matched that in 2023 (12-1).
« In addition to this season, the Blue Jays also count three other 11-win seasons in program history as Hopkins turned in three consecutive 11-1 campaigns in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Additional Information Available in PDF Version Above