Players from Louisville and Southern Miss nearly came to blows Sunday afternoon during an informal dance competition leading up to the Beef "O" Brady Bowl.

After the fracas was avoided, players from both schools blamed the other side for instigating the flare-up.

â€œSomeone said something disrespectful, did a little jawing after the dance contest â€¦ itâ€™s all good,â€ Louisville linebacker Dexter Heyman told the Old Northeast-Downtown St. Pete Patch. â€œItâ€™s just a little too close to game time, ya know.â€

However, a Southern Miss player, who asked not to be identified, told the same source: "They started talking trash about us being in Conference USA, [that] we can't danceâ€¦ it was stupid. We'll do our talking on the field. A friendly dance competition and they take it all serious? It's ridiculous."

The dancing competition was part of scheduled three-hour event called Beach Bash.

It got so heated, though, that a group of armed Florida Highway Patrol officers came to the scene.

One of the troopers said a coach from Louisville ordered players to the team bus, ending the event 90 minutes early.