UM gets more exposure after moving up to No. 15

University of Miami coach Mark Richt predicted as much Sunday night in his weekly game follow teleconference.

The Hurricanes (3-0), who rose 10 spots to No. 15 on Sunday in the Associated Press Poll, are suddenly getting a lot of love on the college football landscape.

The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Monday the Miami at Georgia Tech game will be televised nationally at noon on Oct. 1 on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2.

The Hurricanes have this weekend off before facing the Jackets at Atlanta’s Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Saturday’s game at Appalachian State was also a noon game and televised by ESPN.

“College football is still a little bit of a beauty contest,’’ Richt said Sunday of the No. 15 AP ranking and No. 19 ranking in the Amway Coaches Poll.

“It’s good for recruiting. The ESPN ticker is going to show what’s going on with the top 15 over and over. Right now, it’s not a bad place to be.’’

The Hurricanes dominated Appalachian State 45-10 on Saturday in Boone, North Carolina, and have outscored their opponents 153-23.

Georgia Tech is 3-0 and still unranked after victories against Boston College, Mercer and Vanderbilt.

Richt’s final win as the coach at Georgia came at Dodd Stadium last November. Richt was fired by Georgia the following morning and hired by the Hurricanes a few days later.

Richt was 8-0 at Bobby Dodd Field as coach of the Bulldogs.

RICHARDS HONORED

Miami made it into the national polls a couple weeks ago.

On Monday the Hurricanes got honored for the first time this season with an Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week award.

True freshman Ahmmon Richards, a 6-1, 192-pound wide receiver out of Wellington, was named the ACC Co-Rookie of the Week after setting a UM freshman record with 142 yards receiving on four catches in Miami’s 45-10 victory over Appalachian State.

The other Co-Rookie of the Week: Georgia Tech running back Dedrick Mills, who the Canes will face in their next game.

Mills ran for 58 yards and three touchdowns in three quarters to help lead the Yellow Jackets to a 38-7 win over Vanderbilt.

As for Richards, his 142 yards also were racked up by the end of the third quarter, and included catches of 61 and 62 yards, both of which helped the Hurricanes set up touchdowns — the first of those catches after a drop that at the time was a crucial play.

“It felt good, now that it’s over,” Richards said after the victory at Appalachian State.

“We got the win. That’s all that really matters.”

LOOKING INTO COMPLAINT

University of Miami athletic director Blake James told the Miami Herald on Monday that the school was investigating a complaint from a student at Appalachian State who claims UM football players “blind sided, groped and swore” at band and color guard members as the Hurricanes ran onto the field Saturday.

In a text message, James said Miami would “take action if our students did engage in this type of behavior” and that he had been in touch with Appalachian State as well as “spoken to individuals and reviewed video” of the alleged incident.

“At this point,” James wrote, “there is no indication of inappropriate conduct but we are continuing our review.”

Hours after Miami’s victory, Sophie Randleman — a member of the Appalachian State color guard — wrote on her Facebook page that she witnessed one of her teammates get run over by an unidentified UM player as he made his way from the tunnel to the far end zone.

Randleman wrote that although most football teams have hisorically avoided, or at least apologized to band members if they “get in our way” during pregame ceremonies, that was not the case with the Hurricanes.

She added that in talks with other band and color guard members there were other incidents with the Miami players.

“Today, Miami’s football team decided to blind side one of our members on the corner of the field,” Randleman’s post read. “She was shoved by several very large, intentionally aggressive, football players. No apologies were made regarding this incident, and the member who was hit had severe pain and had to sit for most of the game. I turned around just as this was happening, and was immediately furious and upset.

“Leaving the field, I thought that this was the only incident that occurred. It turns out that several other members were groped, sworn at, taunted, and touched in ways that were definitely not asked for.”

Randleman continued: “I will not sit back and allow this to happen because I am a woman or because ‘it's all in good fun.’ At its simplest form, it's assault, and I will not tolerate it.”

Attempts to contact Randleman through Facebook messenger have so far been unsuccessful.

In viewing cellphone video taken of the Hurricanes rushing onto the field taken by staff writers of the Herald and Palm Beach Post — which initially posted the story of the alleged incident — it appears some Miami players cross through the band. which takes up much of the field during pregame activities.

Miami Herald sportswriter George Richards contributed to this report.

This story was originally published September 19, 2016 at 7:25 PM with the headline "UM gets more exposure after moving up to No. 15."