Sherrone Moore on Will Johnson's status, the Michigan QB he's leaning toward starting

Michigan Wolverines football graduate quarterback Jack Tuttle made his sixth career start and first of his U-M career Saturday at Illinois, with the Maize and Blue losing 21-7.

Head coach Sherrone Moore said after the game that the quarterback spot would be evaluated, and Monday afternoon at his press conference he remained that the competition is open. However, he did reveal on his radio show Monday night that Michigan is leaning toward sticking with Tuttle behind center.

“I think right now Jack will be the guy, but you have to go through the week and see what happens,” Moore said.

Still, the Michigan quarterbacks will compete this week. Senior Davis Warren and junior Alex Orji each have three starts under their belt this season. Warren, Orji and Tuttle were the three who made the trip to Illinois, while freshman Jadyn Davis and junior Jayden Denegal did not make the cut on the travel roster.

“I think right now, we’re just gonna go through practice,” Moore said. “We’ve got a plan, and I think the biggest thing we need to do with the plan is keep it simple — not too simple, where the defense just knows everything. But for us, just keep it simple that our guys can execute a plan and let those guys compete, let those guys go out there and show who’s gonna execute at a high level and take care of the football.”

Moore did add that Davis will get more “in the mix” this week, since the freshman has progressed well during the season.

Tuttle completed 20 of his 32 passes for 208 yards against Illinois. The Michigan signal-caller turned the ball over twice, with a lost fumble and a late interception.

“Starting off the week, you felt really, really good, and he took care of the ball,” Moore assessed. “The turnovers, you saw that. But he did make some good throws, he did make some big plays in the passing game. Just gotta continue to take care of the football.”

Sherrone Moore talks injury updates, Michigan secondary

Michigan had been without fifth-year senior left tackle Myles Hinton the last two games, but Moore said that he’d list Hinton as “probable” for Saturday’s clash with Michigan State.

“I think there’s a really good chance that he’ll play on Saturday,” Moore said.

“It would be huge. You got a guy that’s obviously a senior that’s played a lot of football. It’ll be huge for the whole group.”

Michigan junior cornerback Will Johnson, meanwhile, left the Illinois game in the first quarter with what CBS’ Jenny Dell described as a “toe” injury. U-M radio’s Jason Avant said from the sideline that Johnson was lobbying to return to action, but he did not return.

“I think right now, if I was a doctor — and I’m not a doctor — I’d put him as questionable. We’ll see how he rolls this week,” Moore said of Johnson.

Michigan’s pass defense was stellar against Illinois, even without Johnson. The Illini threw for only 80 yards and a touchdown on 19 attempts. The Wolverines gave Illinois less cushion than they had been giving opponents in the past, and the aggressive style paid off despite committing 3 pass interference penalties.

“We definitely wanted to play a different style to help the guys,” Moore said. “We thought that would help them — and I thought it did. We didn’t give up a lot of explosive plays down the field, and I thought the corners, even when Will went out, played really well.

“We got a couple pass interferences, but sometimes that’s the cost of doing business in football, like a holding call, depending on where it is. So I thought those guys played well and made it hard for those receivers to get open, and they did a really good job.”

Michigan sophomore cornerback Jyaire Hill bounced back from a rough performance at Washington, posting 2 tackles, including 1 for loss, and a pass breakup. Graduate Aamir Hall missed the game in Seattle with injury, but he returned at Illinois and held down the fort with Johnson out.

“Aamir Hall, gotta continue to progress like he’s been doing,” Moore said. “I think he did a really good job when he went in. Jyaire Hill definitely improved. He played so much better than the previous game. And then having those safeties back there, I thought the way they played is definitely going to help them.”