FIU – Miami football brawl The FIU – Miami football brawl was a bench - clearing brawl that occurred on October 14 , 2006 in a college football game between the University of Miami Hurricanes and the at the Miami Orange Bowl in Miami , Florida . Background . The main campuses of Florida International University ( FIU ) and the University of Miami are only nine miles ( 15 km ) apart . FIU is a public university located in western Miami ( playing at FIU Stadium ) , while the University of Miami is a private university in the suburb of Coral Gables ( which at the time played its home games at the Miami Orange Bowl ) . The 2006 game was intended to be the first in the " City Line Series , " an annual series between the two Miami - area schools . At that time , most of Miami and FIU ' s players were from South Florida metropolitan area , often having played alongside and against each other in high school . Miami was heavily favored over FIU , which was in its fifth season of football and in its second year in the Division I FBS . The brawl . Throughout the game , players from both teams engaged in trash - talk and were increasingly physical . By the third quarter , officials had called seven penalties ( six for FIU and one for Miami ) . With 9 minutes left in the 3rd quarter , Miami H - back James Bryant caught a 5 - yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kyle Wright , making the score 13 - 0 Miami . After scoring , Bryant pointed towards Miami ' s West End zone . Bryant , who later transferred to the University of Louisville , was called for unsportsmanlike conduct . During the ensuing PAT attempt , FIU safety Chris Smith wrestled Miami holder Matt Perelli to the ground after the kick and appeared to punch him in the chin . FIU cornerback , Marshall McDuffie , Jr . , kicked Perelli in the head . Miami players , including Calais Campbell , came to Perelli ' s defense , separating Miami and FIU players . FIU ' s Lionel Singleton punched Campbell in the back of the helmet , which was quickly followed by retaliation from both teams , escalating the fight to a bench - clearing brawl . Miami ' s Anthony Reddick swung his helmet at FIU players and Miami ' s Brandon Meriweather kicked an FIU player . FIU ' s A ' Mod Ned , who was previously injured , came onto the field and swung at Miami players with his crutches . The fight lasted less than two minutes with Florida Highway Patrol State Troopers and FIU Police coming onto the field to restore order . Officials needed several minutes to sort out the penalties . Ultimately , 13 players were assessed 15 - yard penalties for fighting and ejected from the game ( eight from FIU and five from Miami ) . Although the unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for fighting offset each other , Miami was forced to kick off from its own 10 - yard line due to the original penalty against Bryant ( penalized at half the distance to the goal ) . After the brawl while waiting for the game to resume the Miami team was seen huddled in a circle in the sidelines hopping up and down in what appeared to be a celebratory gesture . There were also several fights in the stands between UM and FIU fans which were stopped by local police . Former Miami wide receiver Lamar Thomas , who was broadcasting the game for Comcast Sports Southeast ( CSS ) , made several controversial comments during the scuffle , including : “ Now , that ’ s what I ’ m talking about . You come into our house , you should get your behind kicked . You don ’ t come into the OB [ Orange Bowl ] playing that stuff . You ’ re across the ocean over there . You ’ re across the city . You can ’ t come over to our place talking noise like that . You ’ ll get your butt beat . I was about to go down the elevator to get in that thing . . . I say , why don ' t we meet outside in the tunnel after the ball game and get it on some more ? You don ' t come into the OB , baby . We ' ve had a down couple of years but you don ' t come in here talking smack . Not in our house . " Aftermath . The incident won almost instant condemnation from all sides . FIU head coach Don Strock said he was " embarrassed " for what happened , and said that he would impose sanctions even more severe than any imposed by the Sun Belt Conference , the conference in which FIU plays . Miami head coach Larry Coker said he was " shocked and angered " by the brawl but made no promises of further sanctions . The next day , 31 players from both schools — 18 from FIU , 13 from Miami — were handed one - game suspensions by their schools and conferences . In both schools ' cases , the suspensions were not staggered , which was unusual considering the number of players involved . The ejected players ( Chris Smith , McDuffie , Singleton , Ellis , Williams , Wellington and Penerton for FIU ; Morse , Barney , Jones , Armour , Johnson and Samuel Smith for Miami ) already faced minimum one - game suspensions under NCAA regulations for ejections . On Monday , Miami ' s coach suspended Bryant , Merriweather and Reddick indefinitely and announced that the other players would have to complete community service and sit out the next game , against Duke . Miami , which already had a history of such incidents enacted a " zero tolerance " policy for future incidents : any Hurricane involved in a fight will be suspended for the remainder of the season , and could face permanent banishment from the team . The same day , FIU kicked Chris Smith and McDuffie off the team ( though they were allowed to keep their scholarships ) , and the remaining players were suspended from the team indefinitely . FIU also placed the suspended players on probation for the remainder of the year . In contrast , Miami president Donna Shalala announced that the other 12 UM players would not face additional suspensions . She also said that Coker would not be fired . ESPN . com ' s Gene Wojciechowski called Miami ' s one - game suspensions " a soothing caress and manicure " , suggested that Coker should be fired , and called for Miami to wipe the game from its records . Lamar Thomas was fired by CSS , and the network edited out his comments when it rebroadcast the game on October 18 . Later in the day , he told ESPN Radio ' s Dan Patrick that he had gotten carried away in the moment . Coker also came under fire for some of his comments after the incident . " I think that it will affect the image of our program greatly , but in a positive way , " he said . " I think that when they see the video and they see how it was handled they will be impressed with our players . " Additionally , he was quoted in the Miami Herald as saying " I think you ' ve got a lot of players from their team frustrated because they ' re not here , and maybe were not recruited . " His handling of the incident contributed to speculation that he would not return in 2007 , Shalala ' s vote of confidence notwithstanding . Coker was in fact fired at the end of the season , while Strock resigned at the end of the season . For FIU , which had been competitive up to this point in the season but had yet to win any games , the strict penalties and self - imposed suspensions led to a winless 2006 season and a losing streak that would last 23 games . The damage to their lineup would keep them from winning another game until the end of the 2007 season when they won their last game against North Texas . FIU and Miami played the following season , on September 15 , 2007 , without incident on the field as Miami won 23 - 9 . FIU was coached by Mario Cristobal , who was previously Miami ' s offensive line coach . Local police presence was intentionally heavier than normal for this game .