Fansided

Miami, FIU resuming football meetings in 2018, 2019

By Phil Watson

Miami and Florida International are hoping to avoid a repeat of this 2006 brawl when they resume playing each other in football in 2018 and 2019. (Image capture from youtube.com)
Miami and Florida International are hoping to avoid a repeat of this 2006 brawl when they resume playing each other in football in 2018 and 2019. (Image capture from youtube.com) /
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The last time Miami and Florida International met on a football field, the result was an ugly brawl that included current Washington Redskins safety Brandon Meriweather stomping on several Golden Panthers in 2006.

The schools have also announced they will resume playing in other sports, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

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There were 13 ejections and 31 one-game suspensions after the bench-clearing brawl in the 2006 game.

After the Hurricanes scored a touchdown to go up 13-0 in the third quarter, things got chippy on the extra point.

FIU safety Chris Smith wrestled Miami holder Matt Perelli to the ground and FIU cornerback Marshall McDuffie kicked Perelli in the head. Calais Campbell and other Hurricanes came to Perelli’s aid and was punched in the back of the helmet—a brilliant move, always—by FIU’s Lionell Singleton.

Miami’s Anthony Reddick came into the pile swinging his helmet and Hurricanes safety Brandon Meriweather was kicking and stomping players.

The fight lasted about two minutes, with Florida Highway Patrol troopers and FIU police coming onto the field to restore order. But it took several minutes to sort out the penalties—with eight FIU players and five from the Hurricanes being ejected.

That wasn’t the only fallout: former Miami receiver Lamar Thomas, broadcasting the game for Comcast Sports Southeast was fired after saying:

“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 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.”

The 2018 game will be a Miami home game to be played at Sun Life Stadium, while the site for the 2019 matchup—a home game for FIU—has yet to be determined. It’s unlikely Miami would agree to play at tiny FIU stadium, which seats just 20,000, but the game could be played either at Marlins Park or at Sun Life Stadium.

The campuses are separated by nine miles in Miami-Dade County and that game was the first meeting between the schools, which Miami won 35-0. After Miami won a previously contracted game 23-9 in 2007, the teams stopped scheduling each other in any sports.

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