Noble’s injury another setback for line

University of Houston center Will Noble is out for Saturday’s game against Central Florida with a neck stinger, another blow to an offensive line coming off its worst performance of the season.

Noble has been dealing with the injury for a couple of weeks. An MRI exam came back negative and showed “healthy nerves that need time to heal,” coach Tom Herman said.

Noble has made 16 consecutive starts, including all eight games this season. Alex Fontana will shift from left guard to center Saturday against Central Florida at TDECU Stadium.

In the 38-16 loss to SMU, the Cougars allowed seven sacks and had trouble running the ball inside.

“That’s the area that concerns me the most, the inexperience,” Herman said. “If you can’t block people in this game, you can’t do anything. You can’t run, you can’t throw.”

Injuries elsewhere will also force the Cougars to do some juggling up front.

True freshman Braylon Jones will make a second straight start at right tackle as Na’Ty Rodgers recovers from an ankle injury.

The Cougars’ projected starting offensive line this week features a true freshman ( Jones), redshirt freshman (left tackle Josh Jones), a sophomore (Mason Denley) and two upperclassmen (Fontana and right guard Mac Long).

Learning to deal with ‘overdog’ role

With UH having lost two of the last three games, coach Tom Herman noted Monday that all three losses under his watch (Connecticut, Navy and SMU) have resulted in fans storming the field to celebrate.

“I don’t now if that’s ever been in the case at the University of Houston,” Herman said.

Before the SMU game, Herman said the Cougars had to realize they would get every opponent’s best effort and learn to be “the overdog instead of the underdog.”

“When you’re at that level when people have that kind of motivation to beat you,” Herman said. “It’s like I have told them before, we are everybody’s Oklahoma and Florida State. Or we were. I don’t know if we are now.”

UConn’s win over UH last year was just its third over a ranked team. Navy’s win earlier this month was its biggest since 1984. SMU hadn’t beaten a higher ranked team since 1983.

No decision on kicking job

There were internal talks Sunday about opening up the kicking job after senior Ty Cummings’ latest struggles, but coach Tom Herman said he had not made a decision.

Cummings missed two field goals in the 38-16 loss to SMU, including a chip shot from 19 yards, and is 9-of-13 on the season.

Joel Scarbrough ,a redshirt freshman from Langham Creek, is currently the backup kicker.

Stevenson to see more playing time

True freshman inside receiver Marquez Stevenson made his long-awaited debut against SMU and quickly delivered with one of the Cougars’ most explosive plays of the night, a 36-yard catch-andrun just before halftime.

Stevenson missed seven games to begin the season with a broken collarbone suffered in preseason camp. He’s expected to see an increased load this week and could see action at outside receiver with Isaiah Johnson sidelined with a concussion.