Herb Waters Makes Highlights in his Hometown
By David Villavicencio
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Miami Hurricanes have a long tradition of homegrown talent showcasing itself on the football field.
Canes legends like Michael Irvin, Sean Taylor, Jonathan Vilma, Santana Moss and Bennie Blades are just a handful of South Florida natives who shined while donning Miami’s orange and green.
Each week in the 2014 season, HurricaneSports.com will honor a Hurricane football player with South Florida ties as the Milam’s Market Homegrown Athlete of the Week. This week’s player spotlight is on Homestead, Fla., native Herb Waters.
The last time Herb Waters faced the Duke Blue Devils, the Homestead, Fla., native was practically a human highlight reel.
Waters had a career-high nine catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns in last year’s game at Wallace Wade Stadium. Then a sophomore, Waters tallied just his second career 100-yard receiving game against a talented Blue Devils defense.
But making big plays has always come naturally to Waters.
A year ago, he made the crowd at Sun Life Stadium roar after a touchdown in Miami’s 21-16 win over the rival Florida Gators. He also totaled 112 all-purpose yards on two receptions and one carry in the 2013 season opener against FAU. His 63-yard touchdown run against the Owls was a career-best.
Waters also enjoyed big games against Wake Forest and USF, finishing the season ranked fourth on the team with 28 receptions and 406 receiving yards and third with five receiving touchdowns.
Prior to his productive sophomore campaign, Waters made an impact as a true freshman. He played in all 12 games, starting Miami’s final two contests, and finished the year with 10 catches for 227 yards and two touchdowns.
Waters, who made his first catch as a Hurricane in Week 2 of the 2012 season against Kansas State, developed significantly over the course of his first season. That maturation helped the talented receiver catch four balls for a career-high 130 yards and a touchdown against USF.
A week later, Waters caught a 65-yard touchdown against Duke in the season finale.
Even dating back to his days as a standout player at Homestead High School, Waters was always making noise on the field.
As a senior, Waters scored 10 touchdowns while contributing on offense, defense and special teams. As a receiver, Waters had 23 catches for 385 yards. He picked off two passes while playing defensive back and returned five punts for touchdowns.
Waters comes from the same high school that produced safety JoJo Nicolas, pass rusher Marcus Robinson and two-time national champion and former linebackers coach Micheal Barrow. The 6-foot-2 receiver has made plays at Miami like Nicolas, Robinson and Barrow did before him.
This season, Waters has a team-high six catches for 61 yards in the season opener and also contributed in wins over Florida A&M and Arkansas State. He will look to make it three consecutive years with a touchdown against Duke when the Canes host the Blue Devils Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Sun Life Stadium.
