CB Will Johnson and QB Jack Tuttle are out of the game against MSU

It’s official: Michigan football will play without star defender Will Johnson in Saturday’s rivalry game against Michigan State (7:30 p.m., Big Ten Network).

Johnson, who started the season as a projected top-10 pick in the NFL Draft, missed last week’s game at Illinois with a foot injury in the first half. Head coach Sherrone Moore called him “questionable” on Monday, while linebackers coach LaMar Morgan indicated on Wednesday that Johnson was limited and would be trying to get back into the game all week.

Johnson’s absence was expected The matter was first reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Johnson was one of nine Wolverines excluded from the pregame availability report, which Big Ten teams provide to the league office at least two hours before each game. Michigan State’s list also includes quarterback Jack Tuttle and wide receiver Amorion Walker.

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Johnson, who also missed the Week 5 game against Minnesota, has caught 26 targets for 195 yards in six games; statistically, this represents a noticeable step back from last season, when he allowed just 17 catches on 37 targets for 267 yards in 12 games.

Still, Johnson allowed an NFL passer rating of just 52.6 this season as he recorded two pass breakups and two interceptions, both of which he returned for touchdowns. He holds the UM record for career pick-sixes (three).

It will likely be up to Aamir Hall, an FCS transfer from Albany, to start opposite sophomore Jyaire Hill and try to slow down MSU’s passing attack.

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“We have a big library of things we can do here,” Morgan said Wednesday. “Every week you learn what opponents are doing well and what we can do well against those guys. I think that’s the point here. …It’s like you love chocolate cake but your wife isn’t very good at it. You probably won’t ask her to do this to you. But if he makes a really good banana pudding that’s just as good, he’ll probably do it.

“You can’t throw out the entire game plan, whether (Johnson) plays or not. I know he’s working on his game this weekend, but I don’t think the game plan changed against Illinois when Will left. We called the same number as we would when he was there. Everyone does the same number of repetitions per week. We try to spread it evenly so that the guys are prepared and ready to act.

While the rumor spread Friday night that quarterback Davis Warren would be in line to start, it wasn’t 100% clear until the report that Tuttle was unavailable for the competition. He walked with the quarterbacks during pregame warmups on the sideline, but he was dressed all in black.

Tuttle replaced Alex Orji, who will be a reserve, in the 27-17 loss to Washington. The seventh-year point guard then made his first career start last week against UM against Illinois, but committed a pair of turnovers for the second time in as many games that Michigan lost 21-7.

UM’s wide receiving corps could be thinned without Walker, who has three catches for 34 yards while Kenderick Bell is questionable. The secondary is also weakened – again without Jaden Mangham and Micah Pollard, and Quentin Johnson is questionable.

Defensive end Rayshaun Benny was also ruled out for the second game in a row.

The good news is that left back Myles Hinton has been completely removed from the injured list, meaning he will be ready to play. The senior has missed the last two losses at Washington and Illinois; he went to Champaign a week ago and was dressed for the warm-up, but he didn’t participate.

Tony Garcia Is Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Send him an email at [email protected] and follow him to X @RealTonyGarcia.