“This is a chance for a lot of guys here to show guys there, ’Hey, I could have been there with you,”’ Florida International linebacker Antwan Barnes said last week.

In the aftermath of the brawl, Hurricanes coach Larry Coker said he had feared trouble.

“You’ve got a lot of players maybe from their team that are frustrated because they’re not here and maybe weren’t recruited,” Coker said. “I was very concerned.”

The fight erupted in the third quarter of a surprisingly close game, just after the Hurricanes scored to take a 14-0 lead. Players charged from the sidelines, swinging helmets, throwing punches and stomping on each other until coaches, some teammates and police separated them. That made the final score a footnote — Miami 35, FIU 0.

“It was really disheartening to see two South Florida teams fall into that trap of trying to beat somebody with talk rather than with play, and then the thing escalating like it did and going on for so long,” said former Hurricanes coach Howard Schnellenberger, now the coach at Florida Atlantic. “To have something like that happen is really disgraceful.”

Florida International, in consultation with the Sun Belt Conference, kicked two players off the team and suspended 16 others. Miami conferred with the Atlantic Coast Conference and suspended 13 players.

One more game — next year — is scheduled in the series. Shalala will meet Thursday with Florida International president Mitch Maidique to decide whether the 2007 game should be canceled.

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“We have great respect for each other, despite all this conversation about FIU and the university,” Shalala said. “We do lots of things together. Mitch and I talk all the time, and so he and I will work it through on what’s best for both of our institutions.”

Florida International has long competed against Miami in other sports without problems. LPGA Hall of Famer Pat Bradley, who played golf for Florida International against the Hurricanes in the early ’70s, said the teams traded swings but never punches.

“Golf is a little more reserved,” Bradley said with a chuckle. “I know football is a much more physical and energized game, but something like this is not to be tolerated. As an alumnus of FIU, I was embarrassed.”

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Sun Belt commissioner Wright Waters called the brawl “nauseating,” but said he hopes the rivalry can continue.

“This is a great thing for the city of Miami,” Waters said. “We had more than 50,000 people there. Let’s put our arms around each other and make this a positive series and emphasize all the good things college football can be, because we’ve darn sure emphasized the bad things.”

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