Michigan’s Jaishawn Barham got away with what appeared to be a head butt of a referee during Saturday’s rivalry game against Ohio State.
With the Buckeyes facing a third-and-goal during the first quarter, the senior linebacker came face-to-face during a disagreement with one of the officials at the Big House.
At one point, Barham seemed to make contact with the official with his helmet, setting him up for a possible ejection.
Instead, Barham was only assessed a 15-yard penalty and unsportsmanlike conduct, allowing him to stay in the game.
The foolish play gave No. 1 Ohio State a fresh set of downs on the Michigan goal line, but it didn’t end up hurting the Wolverines.
The Buckeyes would fail to get into the end zone and settle for a field goal on fourth down to cut the score to 6-3.
Ohio State would dominate for much of the rest of the half, taking a 17-9 lead into intermission thanks to a pair of touchdown passes from Julian Sayin.
Fox Sports commentator Joel Klatt said Barham was “lucky” to still be in the game during the broadcast.
“Wow, that’s a massive mistake. And you know what? I think that Jaishawn Barham is lucky that they didn’t throw him out of the game,” Klatt said. “They have absolutely every right to throw him out and eject him for contacting officials in particular with a headbutt like that.”
No. 1 Michigan is looking to win its fifth straight game over Ohio State.
The Wolverines are on the outside looking in of the College Football Playoff picture, but could get themselves back in the mix with an upset over the Buckeyes.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
