ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It was a costly call in multiple ways, as the refs rescinded what looked like a big hit on New Mexico’s quarterback by Michigan football linebacker Jaishawn Barham.
It had appeared that the refs were reviewing it to see if Jack Layne had actually fumbled (which had been returned by Barham for a touchdown), but it ended up taking a long time in review, despite it being quickly obvious that the UNM QB was down before the ball came out. Moments later, Barham — having an excellent season opener — was ejected from the game, and the Lobos had new life on the field.
New Mexico converted the new chance into a touchdown, and Barham suddenly appears to be out for the first half against Oklahoma next week. But, as usual, there was controversy on social media — not just from Michigan circles — about the call.
Naturally, head coach Sherrone Moore didn’t like the call and expressed that he will be appealing to the Big Ten to get the first-half suspension overturned.
“We’re going to talk about the ejection when we get to that point with the Big Ten and handling that because we don’t agree,” he said. “We’ll handle it from there.”
Moore says that he didn’t get much of an explanation about why it was called targeting, as it had just looked like a football play. Even still, he will escalate it and see if Barham will be allowed to play in Week 2 in Norman.
“I’m kind of blacked out on the explanation; it really wasn’t really that detailed of an explanation,” Moore said. “So we’ll go with the process and I’ll reach out to whoever we need to reach out to in the Big Ten and go from there.”
Michigan did hold on to beat New Mexico, 34-17, and will play at Oklahoma, at night, in Norman in Week 2.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Sherrone Moore rips targeting ejection of Michigan LB Jaishawn Barham, will appeal to B1G
Reporting by Isaiah Hole, Wolverines Wire / Wolverines Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
