Jake TrotterNov 29, 2025, 01:47 PM ET
CloseJake Trotter is a senior writer at ESPN. Trotter covers college football. He also writes about other college sports, including men’s and women’s basketball. Trotter resides in the Cleveland area with his wife and three kids and is a fan of his hometown Oklahoma City Thunder. He covered the Cleveland Browns and NFL for ESPN for five years, moving back to college football in 2024. Previously, Trotter worked for the Middletown (Ohio) Journal, Austin American-Statesman and Oklahoman newspapers before joining ESPN in 2011. He’s a 2004 graduate of Washington and Lee University. You can reach out to Trotter at jake.trotter@espn.com and follow him on X at @Jake_Trotter.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan linebacker Jaishawn Barham was flagged for heat-butting an official Saturday during the first quarter against Ohio State — but he was not ejected.
The unsportsmanlike penalty happened after the Wolverines forced a third-and-goal from the 5-yard line. Barham was speaking to the official when he lowered his helmet into the official’s nose.
The penalty gave Ohio State an automatic first down at the Michigan 2-yard line. But the Wolverines still forced the Buckeyes into settling for a field goal.
Big Ten referee Kole Knueppel explained the decision not to eject Barham afterward.
“In Rule 9, it’s a judgment call,” Knueppel said. “By the judgment of the official, it wasn’t forcible enough for ejection, but it was an unsportsmanlike.”