HONOLULU (AP) -- Even after three overtimes, Houston and Hawaii

were still fighting each other.

Michael Brewster's 8-yard touchdown run in the third overtime

sent Hawaii to a 54-48 victory over the Cougars in a Hawaii Bowl

that ended with a nasty brawl at midfield Thursday night.

Shortly after Hawaii stopped Houston on fourth down in the third

OT, several scuffles broke out with some players swinging helmets

at each other and throwing punches.

Coaches and police broke up the brawl after several minutes, and

Houston was escorted into its locker room.

It was a wild end to a thrilling game.

"It was everything I thought it was going to be," Hawaii coach

June Jones said.

Houston (7-6) took advantage of a major clock management mistake

by Hawaii (9-5) to tie it at 34 with 22 seconds left in the fourth

quarter.

After the Warriors blew a chance to run out the clock and missed

a short field-goal attempt, Houston's Vincent Marshall caught an

81-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Kolb to tie it.

"I probably should have gone for 2 right at the end, because we

had momentum and we were an underdog and I made a coaching mistake

in my opinion," first-year Houston coach Art Briles said. "I

should have tried to finish it right there, get on the plane and go

home happy."

Briles said he would review the postgame fight on film and

determine whether any disciplinary action is necessary.

"We'll look through that and see what got it going and who kept

it going," he said. "It's certainly not something we plan on

happening, it was just one of those things."

In the first overtime, Hawaii's Timmy Chang completed an 11-yard

touchdown pass to Britton Komine, and Houston tied it on Anthony

Evans' 6-yard run.

Houston went up 48-41 in the second overtime on a 4-yard run by

Jackie Battle, but Hawaii answered with an 18-yard pass from Chang

to Jason Rivers.

The Cougars nearly got the victory when they partially blocked

Hawaii's extra point, but the ball still went through the uprights.

It was the fifth straight bowl loss for the Cougars. Houston,

making its first bowl appearance since 1996, hasn't won in the

postseason since defeating Navy in the 1980 Garden State Bowl.

Chang, selected the game's MVP, was 26-of-42 passing for 475

yards and five touchdowns after coming off the bench. The junior

moved into third place on the NCAA career passing list with 12,814

yards.

Rivers had seven receptions for 143 yards and three touchdowns

for the Warriors. Jeremiah Cockheran added five catches for 162

yards.

The game featured two of the most prolific offenses in the

nation. Each team averaged more than 33 points and 450 yards per

game in the regular season. Hawaii is ranked second in the nation

in passing offense.

Battle led Houston's ground game with 124 yards and three

touchdowns. Marshall had seven catches for 157 yards and a TD.

Hawaii scored 17 straight points and took a 27-20 lead on a

7-yard pass from Chang to Rivers.

Chang entered early in the second quarter when starter Jason

Whieldon was shaken up on a 5-yard run. On his first play, Chang

tossed a 48-yard scoring pass to Clifton Herbert to tie it at 10.

Jones did not name his starting quarterback until gametime, then

opted for Whieldon.

Chang started 11 regular-season games and threw for 3,724 yards

and 24 TDs, but was benched late in the season for ineffectiveness.

"Timmy stepped in and became a great leader tonight,"

Cockheran said. "It was sad Jason got hurt and everything, but Tim

came in and just took off."

Many fans were filing out of Aloha Stadium with Hawaii seemingly

in control late in the fourth, but the Warriors failed to run out

the clock.

Houston used its last timeout with 1:07 left, but instead of

running the ball and chewing up the rest of the clock the Warriors

passed on third down from the Cougars 12.

Chang's pass fell incomplete and Nolan Miranda missed a 29-yard

field goal, giving the Cougars one last shot.

Marshall caught a short pass in stride and burst up the middle,

racing 81 yards for the touchdown that sent the game into overtime.

After crossing the goal line, he fell to the turf and grabbed his

hamstring.

The Cougars jumped out to a 10-0 lead before Hawaii got a first

down. Kolb found Chad McCullar streaking down the right sideline

for a 34-yard touchdown on Houston's opening drive.

Four plays later, McCullar returned Hawaii's punt 60 yards,

setting up Dustin Bell's 21-yard field goal.

McCullar had five catches for 103 yards and a score.

Chang threw passes of 12 and 64 yards to Cockheran to set up

Brewster's 1-yard scoring run that tied it at 20 on the opening

series of the third quarter.

The Cougars had six sacks. The Warriors didn't allow a sack in

their last three regular-season games.

The game was played on a balmy 80-degree Christmas Day in front

of 25,551 fans, the smallest crowd at Aloha Stadium this season.

It was the third bowl appearance in five years for the Warriors.

Hawaii lost to Tulane 36-28 last year in the inaugural Hawaii Bowl.