Officials Reviewing Hawaii Bowl Fight

Hawaii and Houston officials are reviewing the fight between their players in the Hawaii Bowl to determine if any disciplinary action is needed.

“We are going to take our time and review all the angles and video we have access to,” Hawaii Athletic Director Herman Frazier said Friday. “There is no real timeline and we will leave no stone left unturned.”

A nasty brawl broke out on the field seconds after the Warriors (9-5) secured a wild 54-48 triple-overtime victory over the Cougars (7-6) on Thursday night.

For several minutes, players swung helmets, wrestled with each other, punched and kicked before the fight was broken up by coaches, security personnel and police. No major injuries were reported.

Houston Associate Athletic Director Chris Burkhalter said “the general consensus by the people in Houston and the people in Hawaii is that both teams are at fault.”

Shortly after Hawaii stopped Houston on fourth down in the third overtime, nearly 200 players poured onto the field and several scuffles broke out.

“They were talking with us, messing with us the whole game,” Hawaii’s Kelvin Millhouse said. “I don’t think they liked us. I don’t think we liked them very much either.”

Coach June Jones pointed to the referees.

“I told them in the middle of the third quarter, ‘If you don’t get control of this game, we’ve got a problem,’ ” he said.

The brawl was similar to one that broke out a year ago at Aloha Stadium between Hawaii and Cincinnati, also a Conference USA school.

Players from both teams charged onto the field and had to be separated by police after scuffling for about five minutes following the Warriors’ 20-19 comeback victory over the Bearcats on Nov. 24, 2002.

A day after the game, Cincinnati Athletic Director Bob Goin denounced Hawaii officials for creating what he described as an unsafe atmosphere during the game.

“In my 40-year career, it’s the worst game management that I have ever seen,” he said. “It was terrible, and the University of Hawaii needs to clean it up.”