Johns Hopkins Game Notes (PDF)
The Game
« Johns Hopkins (9-1) welcomes Springfield (9-2) to Homewood Field for a second round game in the 2025 NCAA Division III Football Playoffs.
A Look Back
« Johns Hopkins dropped a 29-28 overtime decision at Franklin & Marshall in its regular-season finale on November 15.
« Springfield advanced to the second round of the playoffs with a 21-7 win over Cortland last Saturday (Nov. 22) at home in the first round.
The Facts
« This is the 140th 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 617-493-57 (.553).
« Overall, JHU owns 17 Centennial Conference titles (all 17 won since 2002) and has qualified for the NCAA Playoffs 14 times (all 14 since 2005).
Poll Position
« Johns Hopkins is ranked #11 by the AFCA and #8 by D3football.com in the most recent polls issues by those organizations (after the final regular season games of the year).
« The Blue Jays held the number three spot in the AFCA and D3football.com rankings in each of the first 11 polls issued in 2025 before dipping to #11/#8 after the loss at F&M.
« The number three rankings from the AFCA and D3football.com are tied for the highest ever for Johns Hopkins.
« Johns Hopkins is appearing in the AFCA Top-25 for the 154th time in 269 polls since the poll debuted in 1999. Additionally, the Blue Jays are in the D3football.com Top-25 for the 173rd time in 283 polls since D3football launched its poll in 2003.
« Springfield is listed as receiving votes in the most recent AFCA Poll; the Pride do not appear in the most recent D3football.com Poll.
How They Got Here
« Johns Hopkins earned an at-large bid to the 2025 NCAA Division III Football Playoffs. This is the second time in JHU's 14 all-time NCAA Playoff appearances that the Blue Jays have earned an at-large bid (2021).
« Springfield punched its ticket to the NCAA Playoffs by winning the NEWMAC title and grabbing the league's automatic bid to the tournament.
What's Next
« The winner of the Johns Hopkins-Springfield game will play the winner of the Salisbury-Endicott game in the third round of the tournament on Saturday, December 6. The location and time of that game will be announced on Sunday, November 30.
Playoff History
« Johns Hopkins is making its 14th trip to the NCAAs, including its 12th since 2011.
« The Blue Jays are 15-13 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with runs to the 2018 and 2024 NCAA Semifinals and a pair of trips to the NCAA Quarterfinals in 2009 and 2023 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.
« This week's game will be the 16th home playoff game in Hopkins history. JHU is 10-5 all-time at Homewood Field in NCAA Playoff games.
« JHU has hosted a second round NCAA Playoff game four times previously (2015, 2016, 2023, 2024).
Against the NEWMAC
« This week's game will be just the seventh all-time for Johns Hopkins against a team that currently competes in the NEWMAC.
« Five of the previous six JHU games against a team currently in the NEWMAC came against the Merchant Marine Academy (1997-2000, 2011). Note that the Mariners were not a member of the NEWMAC when Johns Hopkins played USMMA in a four-year series from 1997-2000 or in 2011.
« JHU's only other game against a NEWMAC team came in 2018, when the Blue Jays topped MIT, 49-0, in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Playoffs.
JHU vs. Ranked Opponents All-Time
« The regular-season-ending game against #25/#25 Franklin & Marshall was Johns Hopkins' 44th against a team ranked in the top 25 by either the AFCA or D3football.com since 1999 (when the AFCA Poll debuted ... the D3football.com Poll debuted in 2003).
« Johns Hopkins is 22-21 all-time against teams ranked in the top 25 at the time of the game, including 11-7 in its last 18 games against ranked opponents.
More Ranked
« The game against #25/#25 Franklin & Marshall marked the fifth time in 10 games this season that Johns Hopkins has faced a team ranked in the top 25 at the time of the game.
« Using rankings at the time of the game, the Blue Jays own wins this season against #21/#20 John Carroll (27-13), #5/#4 Susquehanna (40-22), #15/#17 Carnegie Mellon (28-27) and #25/#24 Muhlenberg (47-26) and have the one-point loss to the #25/#25 Diplomats as well.
Fourth-Toughest Schedule To-Date
« Not including their games against Johns Hopkins, the Blue Jays' 10 opponents are currently a combined 63-32 (.663) on the year. That ranks as the fourth-highest opponent winning percentage in the nation through games of November 22.
November Reign
« The Blue Jays are 23-3 in the month of November dating back to 2018, when JHU went 4-0 en route to the program's first appearance in the NCAA Semifinals.
Two-by-One (K)
« Junior wide receiver Cole Crotty enters this week's game with 1,105 yards receiving, while senior running back Geoff Schroeder has exactly 1,000 yards rushing.
« Did you know that this is the first time Johns Hopkins has had a 1,000-yard rusher and a 1,000-yard receiver in the same season? JHU narrowly missed on the double 1K in 2018 (Stuart Walters rushed for 1,048 yards and Ryan Hubley had 995 receiving yards) and 2009 (Andrew Kase rushed for 1,540 yards and Dan Crowley had 975 receiving yards).
More Two-by-One (K)
« Johns Hopkins is one of just two Division III teams in the nation that has produced a 1,000-yard receiver and a 1,000-yard rusher this season, and the only team in the NCAA Division III Playoffs that has turned this trick.
« The only other Division III team in the nation with a 1,000-yard receiver and a 1,000-yard rusher thus far is Albright (PA).
Schroeder Cracks 1,000
« Senior running back Geoff Schroeder rushed for 143 yards against F&M in the regular-season finale to reach 1,000 yards for the season. He is just the sixth player in program history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season (the six have done it a total of eight times).
Crotty Climbing
« Junior Cole Crotty has already etched his name throughout the Blue Jay record book, but he enters this week's game against Springfield within striking distance of two more marks of note.
« With 1,105 receiving yards this season, he needs just 161 to break the JHU single-season receiving yards record of 1,265, which is currently held by Sam Wernick (2010).
« In addition, Crotty has 2,951 career receiving yards to his credit. With 49 more yards he'll become the fifth player in program history to reach 3,000 career receiving yards, but the first to reach that mark as a junior.
A Fraternity of One
« Geoff Schroeder's 232-yard rushing performance at Muhlenberg came two weeks after Cole Crotty's 228-yard receiving effort in a 52-21 win against Ursinus.
« With those two performances, Johns Hopkins is currently the only NCAA football-playing program that has produced a player with a 225-yard rushing game and a 225-yard receiving game this season. There are two other schools (NC Wesleyan (DIII) and Sacramento St. (FCS)) that have had a 200-yard rusher and a 200-yard receiver this season, but among the 658 schools that play football under the NCAA banner at all four levels, only Johns Hopkins has had a 225-yard rusher and a 225-yard receiver this season.
Under Pressure
« The Blue Jays are currently tied for 12th in the nation in sacks per game (3.20).
« The 19 sacks Johns Hopkins accumulated in the first four games of the season are the most for the Blue Jays in a four-game span since early in the 2023 season, when they totaled 19 in wins against Rowan (6), Gettysburg (5), F&M (4) and Ursinus (4).
« In all, 16 different players have been credited with at least half a sack for the Blue Jay thus far with Will Seibert (5.0), Sawyer Olson (4.5) and Kellen Gibson and leading the way; Isaac Urquidi (3.5) leads a list of four other players with at least two sacks to their credit.
The Harvey Tracker
« Senior Bay Harvey continues to assault the Johns Hopkins record book as the Blue Jays open the NCAA Playoffs.
« Most importantly, Harvey is 23-3 as Johns Hopkins' starting quarterback (12-1 in 2023, 2-1 in 2024, 9-1 in 2024).
« Harvey tied the Johns Hopkins record for career rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with his 20th in the game against F&M (David Tammaro).
« With 21 more passing yards, Harvey will become just the sixth quarterback in Centennial Conference history to throw for more than 7,000 yards and rush for more than 1,200 yards. He currently has 6,979 career passing yards and 1,255 career rushing yards.
Wodicka Honored
« Dan Wodicka was named the 2025 AFCA Division III Region 2 Coach of the Year on November 25. This is the sixth time Johns Hopkins has produced the AFCA's Regional Coach of the Year as he joins Jim Margraff (2011, 2014, 2016, 2018) and Greg Chimera (2023).
At Home at Homewood
« Including the recent win against McDaniel, the Blue Jays have enjoyed a dominant recent run at Homewood Field.
« Since the start of the 2014 season, the Blue Jays are 61-6 (.910) at Homewood Field; they are 77-9 (.895) 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.
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