University of Houston Athletics
Herman, Noble Honored by FWAA
1/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
HOUSTON - Houston's Tom Herman has been named the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) First-Year Coach of the Year, and Will Noble has been named to the FWAA Freshman All-America Team, the organization announced Monday.
Herman claimed the honor following the second 13-win season in program history, capped off with a 38-24 win over No. 9 Florida State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. He became just the fourth coach in NCAA history with at least 13 wins in his first season, joining Boise State's Chris Petersen (2006), Penn's George Woodruff (1892) and Yale's Walter Camp (1888), and just the fifth to win the first 10 games of his career.
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Houston is one of just three schools nationally to play at least four ranked opponents this season and remain undefeated in the matchups with three of Houston's wins over ranked opponents coming by double-digits, the fourth-best total in the nation.
Houston is one of eight teams nationally with at least four wins against ranked opponents and is third nationally with seven wins of 21 points or more. Ten wins have been by double-digits including Houston's 38-24 win over No. 9 Florida State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Houston ranks fifth nationally with an average margin of victory of 19.7 points per game.
Monday's Freshman All-America honor marked the fourth for Noble, who was also named to Scout.com's, USA Today's and ESPN.com's Freshman All-America Teams. The true freshman removed his redshirt in Houston's sixth game of the season at Tulane and never let go of starting center duties.
Commanding the center of a line that has saw 10 different starting combinations this season, Noble helped lead a unit that ranks 10th nationally in scoring offense at 40.4 points per game, 13th nationally in rushing offense at 235.8 yards per game and 20th nationally in total offense at 484.1 yards per game.
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Herman and Noble were part of a program that ranks eighth nationally in rushing defense, allowing just 108.9 yards per game, while ranking 13th in rushing offense with an average of 235.8 yards per game. Houston is the only team in the nation to rank in the top 13 in both categories.
Ranking 10th in scoring offense (40.4 points per game) and 21st in scoring defense (20.7 points per game), Houston is the only program in the nation to rank in the top 10 in scoring offense and the top 25 in scoring defense.
