Michigan has arguably the best cornerback in all of college football in first team All-American Will Johnson, but one of the few question mark on the Wolverines’ defense heading into 2024 was who would start opposite Johnson at the second corner spot.

It appears we have our answer with ‘game week’ underway ahead of Michigan’s season-opener against Fresno State this upcoming Saturday. At his weekly press conference on Monday, head coach Sherrone Moore said redshirt freshman Jyaire Hill, nicknamed “Sugar” for his affinity for candy, is expected to start for the Wolverines in the opener.

“Yeah, right now it would be Jyaire,” Moore said. “Jyaire’s really taking hold of that position and doing a really good job. Sug, he’s been phenomenal, tough, just a gritty dude. One of Kankakee’s finest. And he’s been great. So I think it would be him on Saturday that would line up across from Will Johnson.”

Hill appeared in four games for the Wolverines in 2023 to preserve a redshirt year, totaling eight tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss in limited action. A former four-star prospect and Top 175 recruit, the native of Kankakee, Ill. was one of Michigan’s most coveted prospects in the 2023 recruiting class. The Wolverines beat out the homestate Illinois Fighting Illini to earn Hill’s commitment in that cycle. If Hill starts and performs well for Michigan this season, that will prove to be one of the program’s biggest recruiting wins of the past several years.

This offseason, Michigan brought in two transfer cornerbacks out of the portal, 2023 FCS All-American Aamir Hall (Albany) and UNLV starter Ricky Johnson. It appears that duo will provide depth at the position behind Johnson and Hill, at least to begin the season.

Moore also gave insight on how the Wolverines’ outlook at the safety position. Michigan returns one half of its starting duo at the position in senior Makari Paige, but lost fellow senior Rod Moore to an ACL injury during spring practice. The Wolverines return rotational safety Quinton Johnson from last year’s squad, but also added Tennessee’s Wesley Walker and Michigan State’s Jaden Mangham at the position, each of whom were starters at their previous schools. Redshirt sophomore Zeke Berry is expected to start at nickelback.

“Right now, obviously, Makari’s been phenomenal,” Moore said. “Quinten Johnson’s been great. But you’ve got Zeke Berry in there. You’ve got Wes Walker in there. You’ve got Jaden Mangham. You’ve got Brandyn Hillman, who’s really, really taken his level of play to the next level because he’s got some elite traits and ability that people haven’t seen yet, and we’re super excited. It’s finally getting there for him. But him and a guy like Zeke Berry, who’s really all he needed was the confidence. And, you know, it would be funny because I’m talking to Rod, I’m talking to Will. I was like, who’s the guy in the background? And this was in the spring. Like, who are you guys most excited about? They said, Zeke. Zeke. And to watch his evolution as a player, he’s made some plays in camp, just wild plays. And they’re like, yeah, that’s routine of his skill set. So he’s really stepped up. So that room’s super deep and ready for it.”

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Lansing — Independent presidential candidate Cornel West was certified Monday to appear on Michigan’s ballot even as litigation is working its way through court challenging his eligibility.

The Michigan Board of State Canvassers voted 3-1 to certify the liberal activist, author and academic for the Nov. 5 general election ballot despite allegations that circulator signatures had been forged in the sample examined by the Bureau of Elections.

Attorney Mark Brewer, who is representing a voter challenging the signatures, said he planned to appeal Monday’s decision. A separate appeal already is pending in the Court of Appeals challenging West’s eligibility based on alleged deficiencies in his affidavit of identity.

“The board of canvassers just put a forger on the ballot,” Brewer said after the three-hour meeting Monday.

At issue in Monday’s meeting were questions about the signatures of the individuals circulating the nominating petition that voters signed to get West on the ballot.

Brewer listed seven circulators whose signatures he said were forged, pointing to differences in handwriting among the different pages signed by the circulators.

Michigan’s elections bureau, which had determined there were enough signatures and had recommended certification, said the procedures they had in place did not require or set out a process for comparing circulator signatures. But even if it were the case that those circulator signatures were fraudulent and their sheets thrown out, West would still have enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, state Elections Director Jonathan Brater said.

Brewer had maintained that between the circulator challenges and challenges against individual voter signatures, there were enough for West to fall short of the threshold needed for certification.

The Michigan Bureau of Elections had disqualified West earlier this month because of problems with the way West’s affidavit of identity was notarized.

Court of Claims Judge James Robert Redford on Saturday overruled the bureau, arguing that West was not required to file an affidavit of identity in the first place because he submitted the requisite number of legitimate signatures.

The decision was appealed Sunday to the Michigan Court of Appeals.

eleblanc@detroitnews.com

Free Press sports writer Tony Garcia looks ahead to Michigan football’s 2024 season opener against Fresno State on Saturday at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

Next up for the Wolverines: Fresno State Bulldogs

Matchup: No. 8 Michigan (15-0, national champions, in 2023) vs. Fresno State (9-4 in 2023).

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. Saturday; Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor.

TV/radio: NBC, WXYT-FM (97.1)

Line: Wolverines by 21½.

Know the foe

For the second time in five years, Tim Skipper takes over for Jeff Tedford at the helm of the Bulldogs. Only this time, it’s permanent, with Tedford stepping aside for health resons. Fresno State last year was ranked during the season, and eyes another winning season in a deep Mountain West.

Quarterback Mikey Keene threw for nearly 3,000 yards with 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions a season ago, connecting with top targets Jalen Moss (55 catches for 706 yards and six touchdowns), Mac Dalena (47 catches for 509 yards and three touchdowns) and Josiah Freeman (19 catches for 249 yards and one touchdown). In case that wasn’t enough movement through the air, Fresno State added a pair of 1,000-yard receivers from the FCS level in Idaho’s Chedon James (102 catches for 1,045 yards and eight touchdowns) and Missouri State All-American Raylen Sharpe (73 catches for 991 yards and seven touchdowns).

The Bulldogs should be able to run, too, as they return lead RB Malik Sherrod (876 yards, nine TDs) and backup Elijah Gilliam (397 yards, five TDs).

The Bulldogs are weaker on defense, but leading edge Devo Bridges returns, complemented by former top-five recruit Korey Foreman (class of 2023), who transferred in this offseason from USC. Linebacker Malachi Langley recorded a career-high 80 tackles last year, and defensive backs Cam Lockridge and Al’zillion Hamilton will need to pick up the slack with Carlton Johnson now in the NFL (Seahawks).

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3 things to watch

Waiting on a quarterback: It will remain the No. 1 question surrounding the team until the Wolverines answer it, but the understanding is the job remains up for grabs between Alex Orji and Davis Warren. This is not 2023, when U-M had a weak nonconference schedule and a backloaded league slate. New coach Sherrone Moore’s team faces three 2023 bowl teams in the first four games, (including CFP semifinalist Texas). Time is of the essence.

Orji is 6 feet 3 and 235 pounds and ranked No. 13 The Athletic’s “freaks list,” but an area of concern is his ability to consistently operate the intermediate-to-deep pass game. Warren looked the best in public during April’s spring game, and has apparently been equally proficient during camp. He’s more mobile than he gets credit for, but his ceiling is lower than Orji’s, and he has previously only entered late in blowouts. If Warren wins the job, there will certainly be packages for Orji to get involved.

Sherrone’s style: There was no question about who Michigan’s next coach would be once Jim Harbaugh returned to the NFL. We saw how Moore operated in four instances where he filled in for a suspended Harbaugh — notably at Penn State in November, with 32 consecutive runs to close out a top-10 road win, and another epic victory at home against Ohio State — and saw a man ready for the job. Now’s the time when it’s all put to the test. What does a Moore team look like? How much autonomy does he give to coordinators Kirk Campbell (offense) and Wink Martindale (defense)? How aggressive is Moore on offense, and how will he get players to overcome the target as defending champions? This will be the first glimpse at what the attitude of a Moore-led team looks like.

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Retool vs. rebuild: In this new era of roster turnover, it’s Michigan’s turn to put its “next man up” mantra to the test. That leads to perhaps the overarching question: Is the next era of Wolverines ready? The entire title-winning offensive line has been replaced. Gio El-Hadi, Greg Crippen and Andrew Gentry have waited for years, and now we’ll see if they’re up to the task. At receiver, U-M replaces both starters. Tyler Morris has been said to be “the alpha” — he has one career touchdown — and Semaj Morgan was electric in spurts last year. The one lock on offense is tight end Colston Loveland.

The defense figures to be among the nation’s best, but replaces staff at every level and saw multiple starters move to the NFL. Can the players grasp Martindale’s twist on the Ravens-style scheme implemented under Mike Macdonald (2021) and Jesse Minter (2022-23)? Is Zeke Berry capable of replacing All-American Mike Sainristil at nickel back? The linebacking corps lost nine years of experience between Junior Colson and Michael Barrett and is now led by understudy Ernest Hausmann and Maryland transfer Jaishawn Barham. The best news: The unit’s three best players return: preseason All-Americans DTs Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant and CB Will Johnson.

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