TE Herndon gets ’Canes rolling early

MIAMI GARDENS — In a game where the Miami Hurricanes knew they couldn’t afford another slow start, they turned to one of their most experienced players.

And tight end Chris Herndon — a big 6-foot-4, 252-pound target — wasted little time showing why he’s earned both trust and consistent praise from Miami’s coaches.

The senior caught Miami’s first touchdown of the day, a 10-yard scoring pass from quarterback Malik Rosier, and finished the day with a career-high 10 catches for a career-high 96 yards. Ninety-one of those came in the first half, with Herndon somewhat hampered by a shoulder injury later in the game.

Miami went on Syracuse, 27-19.

“They like to get me going early. I think the coaches know once I get going, if I get going, it’s hard to stop me,” Herndon said. “I guess they saw that early and kept feeding me the ball and it was working, so we kept going to it.”

Along with his touchdown, Herndon had three key catches on Miami’s opening drive, a drive that led to an 18-yard Michael Badgley field goal.

“A lot of our stuff is just based on what the defense gives us and he does a great job running his routes. He gets to his depth, he runs with speed and he’s physical. He fights for yards after the catch,” Rosier said. “Chris is one of those guys that, when it comes down to it, if I throw it to him, I know he’s going to be in the right spot.” to beat Tight end Chris Herndon