Miami Hurricanes Accused of Assaulting App St Band

A member of the Appalachian State band has alleged that some of the Mountaineer band members were verbally and physically assaulted Saturday by members of the Miami Hurricanes team. Miami Athletic Director Blake James has ruled out any wrongdoing following a joint investigation with App. State.

The accusations say that the alleged assault occurred against App St’s color guard as the Hurricanes took the field. Per Christy Cabrera Chirinos of the Sun Sentinel, the University has conducted their own investigation and found no wrongdoing.

No charges have been filed by authorities in Boone, NC. Miami Athletic Director Blake James issued a statement  that both Miami and Appalachian State found nothing inappropriate happened. James said:

"“We have already followed up seeking details from both the football and administrative staff. The University of Miami does not tolerate any kind of suggestive behavior, harassment or inappropriate conduct and we will take action if our students did engage in this type of behavior,” James said in a statement. “We have been in touch with App State and we both have spoken to individuals and reviewed video and at this point, there is no indication of inappropriate conduct, but we are continuing our review.”"

Chirinos went on to say that the Sun Sentinel shot a video of Hurricanes entering the field at the beginning of the game. She reports that Miami ran through the band on its own sideline and that no members of the App State band were seen falling to the ground in the 12-second video.

In her post-Appalachian State Color guard member Sophie Randleman says “Miami’s football team decided to blind side one of our members on the corner of the field…the member who was hit had severe pain and had to sit for most of the game.”

She went on to say that this was not the only incident that occurred. “several other members were groped, sworn at, taunted, and touched in ways that were definitely not asked for.”

She went on to accuse the Hurricanes of other incidents without specifying where or when.

"“I was told repeatedly today that Miami’s team is notoriously scum, but that is no reason to sit back and let this happen. I can’t even imagine how many other events similar to this one have occurred. “"

Randleman’s full post is below:

Was Appalachian State ready for a game that would give them national attention? The game was the first time App St hosted a ranked or power five conference team. It was billed as the biggest event in Appalachian State and Boone, NC history.

Mountaineer Athletic Director Doug Gillin was out of town and not available for comment. Gillin was hired last year. This is his first position heading an athletic department. A Boone police spokesman told the High County Times there were no issues surrounding the game.

"Boone Police Department spokesman Shane Robbins said. “It was fine. We’d prepared for [the game] and didn’t have any problems. Everything went very well,”"

The App State faithful had their own issues with trash talking before the game on various social media platforms. A Boone restaurant was selling the t-shirt below.

One Appalachian State fan named Yosef who is on Twitter at @App_StateYosef was particularly salty. This below Tweet that should be in the shape of a U, crossed the line.

Next: Ahmmon Richards Named ACC Co-Rookie of the Week

The Mark Richt ERA on the field is off to a great start and with the recruiting base he has, he should be able to mirror and maybe surpass the success he had at Georgia on the field. The dismissals of Juwon Young. Quan Muhammad and Jermaine Grace have already shown he won’t accept the lawlessness and brash attitude of the Johnson and Erickson Eras.