The snowfall couldn’t contain the heat on the gridiron. As usual, the Michigan and Ohio State players kept clashing. But the Wolverines’ LB made an aggressive move against the referee.

Michigan linebacker Jaishawn Barham drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during the Michigan vs Ohio State game on Saturday, Nov. 29. The Wolverine’s LB lowered his helmet toward an umpire near the goal line, head-butting him and making contact with the official’s nose. Barham’s act appeared to meet the NCAA’s standard for automatic disqualification for intentional contact. Instead, he stayed on the field.

Michigan opened the game with a couple of field goals to take an early 6-0 lead over the Buckeyes, taking advantage of a rare interception by OSU’s Heisman candidate Julian Sayin for the second kick. In the ensuing drive, while the Buckeyes’ offense was facing the third-and-goal, Barham got into an official’s face and made contact with his nose.

If you take a close look at the act, it wasn’t the most violent of headbutts, but it is well enough to earn him an ejection. Surprisingly, he wasn’t sent out of the field; instead, he was flagged with a 15-yard penalty, giving Ohio State a first-and-goal. But Michigan managed to hold the lead, as Ohio State went for a field goal on that drive, setting the score 6-3.

The senior linebacker is in his second season with the Wolverines after transferring from Maryland in 2024. Jaishawn Barham entered the Saturday game with 31 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 3 pass deflections, and 1 forced fumble this season. Throughout his collegiate career, when he started at Maryland in 2022, he has 192 total tackles, 23 tackles for loss, and 12 sacks.

He was also a big part of Michigan’s promising start against Ohio State on Saturday, which helped the Wolverines post the opening field goal and add another three points, intercepting Juliyan Sayin inside the Buckeyes’ territory. 

Ejecting him would have been a big loss for Michigan’s defense. But still, Michigan wouldn’t be able to constrain the Buckeyes, as Juliyan Sayin posted two back-to-back touchdown passes, finishing the first half with a 17-9 lead, and went on to win the game, extending the lead to 27-9.

As the game progressed, with Barham remaining on the field with Michigan’s defense, this became a debate.

Ex-NFL Referee Terry McAulay reacts to Jaishawn Barham’s act

As soon as the moment went viral, former NFL referee Terry McAulay reacted to the act. He believes that Barham should have been ejected on the spot for his infraction, posting that fact on social media. Terry McAulay wrote on X, “Automatic ejection. In no universe should he be allowed to play another down.”

Considering McAulay has officiated at the highest level of the game, at the pro-football level, he has pretty good authority on this matter. He made it clear that Barham should have hit the locker room for leaning on the referee for the rest of this game, but the referee’s call was quite surprising. 

Although Barham was retained on the field, it didn’t help Michigan’s defense, as OSU dominated the line of scrimmage, totaling 419 yards and securing a comfortable win. This ended Michigan’s four-game dominance over the Buckeyes and its Playoff hopes, finishing the regular season by 9-3.

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