University of Houston Athletics
Ten Named to Athlon Sports Preseason Team
5/21/2018 12:00:00 AM | Football
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HOUSTON – The Houston Football program placed 10 on the Athlon Sports Preseason All-American Athletic Conference team as the publication announced its team Monday.
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Junior defensive tackle and reigning Outland Trophy winner Ed Oliver was named to the first team while junior offensive tackle Josh Jones and senior center Will Noble were named to the second team offense. Senior kicker Caden Novikoff and junior punter Dane Roy were named to the publication’s second team special teams unit.
Athlon’s Third Team included senior defensive end Jerard Carter, senior linebacker Emeke Egbule and senior defensive back Garrett Davis.
Two sophomore transfers who will suit up for Houston this fall, defensive end Isaiah Chambers and defensive back Deontay Anderson, were named to the fourth team.
For a full list of selections, click here.
Ed Oliver | Jr. | DT
2017 Outland Trophy Winner … 2017 consensus All-American … has 39.5 tackles for loss in his first two years, second best in NCAA history among all players and best among all defensive tackles … leads all active players nationally with 1.56 tackles for loss per game … Houston’s leading returning tackler after totaling 73 stops in 2017 … has 139 tackles through two years … while playing the nose spot in a three-man front, totaled 73 tackles in 12 games, despite missing three quarters of one game and being limited in the next four with a knee injury ... recorded an average of 6.1 tackles per game which ranked third nationally among all defensive linemen ... his 73 total tackles ranked eighth nationally among all defensive linemen, second nationally among defensive tackles and 16.5 tackles for loss were second among defensive tackles while his average of 1.38 tackles for loss per game led all defensive linemen in The American ... led UH in tackles for loss (16.5), sacks (5.5), quarterback hurries (7), forced fumbles (2) and blocked kicks (1) ... also had three pass breakups and one fumble recovery ... recorded two double-digit tackle games, part of seven games with at least five tackles ... also tallied five games with multiple tackles for loss and now has 13 career games with the distinction.
Josh Jones | Jr. | OT
Has started all 23 games he has played in over first two seasons of career including all 10 games played in 2017, missing two with an injury … protects the quarterback’s blind side at LT.
Will Noble | Sr. | C
Enters his final collegiate season after starting it as an FWAA Freshman All-American in 2015 … has started 32 of 33 career games played including all 12 games in 2017, missing one with an injury.
Caden Novikoff | Sr. | K
Led Houston in scoring in 2017 with 79 points, connecting on all 43 extra point attempts and 12-of-15 field goal attempts … field goal percentage of 80.0 percent leads all returners in The American.
Dane Roy | Jr. | P
Led The American in 2017 with 25 punts inside the 20 and 43.1 percent of his punts inside the 20 … third among returners in the league with an average of 41.8 yards per punt … only had five touchbacks on the year.
Jerard Carter | Sr. | DE
Missed the first seven games of 2017 but made a noticeable impact once back … finished the year with 22 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss in the five games he did play in … also eased the pressure of those around him when he returned as Ed Oliver collected 9.5 of his 16.5 tackles for loss in the games Carter returned for while rush linebacker Leroy Godfrey had 7.5 of his 8.5 tackles for loss upon Carter’s return.
Emeke Egbule | Sr. | LB
Houston’s second-leading returning tackler with 62 stops in 2017 … also had 6.5 tackles for loss and two sacks along with one fumble recovery.
Garrett Davis | Sr. | DB
Second among all returners in The American with four interceptions in 2017 … finished the year with 51 tackles including two for a loss and four pass breakups to go along with his four interceptions … team captain in 2017.
Isaiah Chambers | So. | DE
Will suit up after sitting out the 2017 season following a transfer from TCU … redshirted the 2016 season at TCU … four-star recruit by 247Sports.com coming out of Houston’s Aldine MacArthur High School … No. 2 strong-side defensive end in Texas and No. 7 nationally by 247Sports.com … No. 22 overall recruit in Texas.
Deontay Anderson | So. | DB
Has been ruled eligible immediately in 2018 after transferring from Ole Miss … sat out the 2017 season … named to the Freshman All-SEC second team by Athlon in 2016 ... saw action in every game as a true freshman with one start at rover safety ... also played on special teams ... finished the year with 32 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and an interception on the year … an Under Armour All-America selection coming out of Manvel High School ... a consensus 4-star recruit ... rated the nation’s No. 1 safety by ESPN and ranked No. 41 in the ESPN300.
