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

Johnson, who entered the season as a projected top-10 NFL draft pick, left last week's contest at Illinois with a foot injury in the first half. Head coach Sherrone Moore called him "questionable" on Monday, while defensive backs coach LaMar Morgan implied Wednesday that Johnson was limited in what he could do and would be trying to work his way back throughout the week.

Johnson's expected absence was first reported by ESPN's Pete Thamel.

Johnson was one of nine Wolverines ruled out in the pregame availability report that Big Ten teams provide to the league office at least two hours before every game. Michigan's list also included quarterback Jack Tuttle and wide receiver Amorion Walker.

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Johnson, who also missed Week 5's game vs. Minnesota, has allowed 16 catches on 26 targets for 195 yards in six games; a noted step back statistically from last season, when he allowed just 17 catches on 37 targets for 267 yards across 12 games.

Still, Johnson has allowed an NFL passer rating of just 52.6 this season, as he has two pass breakups and two interceptions, both returned for touchdowns. He holds U-M record for pick-sixes (three) in a career.

It will likely be up to Aamir Hall, a transfer from FCS-level Albany, to start opposite sophomore Jyaire Hill and try to slowdown the MSU passing attack.

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“We have a big library of things that we can do here,” Morgan said Wednesday. “Each week you find out what opponents do well and what can we do well against those guys. I think that's kind of where it's at. … It's like if you love chocolate cake but your wife is not really good at chocolate cake. You're probably not going to ask her to make you that. But if she makes a really good banana pudding, which is just as good, she probably makes that.

"You can't throw out a whole game plan if (Johnson) plays or not plays. I know he's working to play this weekend, but I think the game plan didn't change against Illinois when Will went out. We called the same calls that we would do when he's in there. Everybody gets the same reps during the week. We try to break it up evenly so guys are prepared and ready to go.”

While rumor came out Friday night that quarterback Davis Warren was in line for the start, it wasn't 100% clear until the report that Tuttle is unavailable for the contest. He walked with the quarterbacks in pregame warmup on the sideline, but was dressed in all black.

Tuttle came in to replace Alex Orji, who will serve as backup, in a 27-17 loss to Washington. The seventh-year quarterback then got his first career start with U-M last week vs. Illinois, but committed a pair turnovers for the second time in as many games as Michigan lost 21-7.

U-M's wide receiver corps could be thinned without Walker, who has three catches for 34 yards while Kenderick Bell is questionable. The secondary is thinned, too, again without Jaden Mangham and Micah Pollard while Quentin Johnson is questionable.

Defensive tackle Rayshaun Benny has been ruled out for a second consecutive game, too.

The good news, left tackle Myles Hinton has been removed from the injury list entirely, which implies he will be ready to go. The senior missed the past two losses at both Washington and Illinois; he traveled to Champaign a week ago and was dressed for warmups but did not participate.

Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X @RealTonyGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football: CB Will Johnson, QB Jack Tuttle out vs. MSU