Michigan will be without one of its starting cornerbacks for the rest of the season.

The school announced Monday that sophomore Blake Countess suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the first quarter of the team's 41-14 loss to Alabama on Saturday.

Countess was injured when covering a punt with 11:18 remaining in the quarter and was hit by Alabama's Kenny Bell, USA Today [6] reported. He hopped off the field and spent the rest of the game on crutches.

He was replaced by cornerback Courtney Avery, who was targeted two series later on a 51-yard touchdown pass. After that, Raymon Taylor manned the corner opposite J.T. Floyd.

"Obviously Blake's a talented ballplayer, but the next guy steps up," Michigan co-captain Jordan Kovacs said after Saturday's game. "I thought Ray played pretty well. I don't think that affected our game plan at all."

Michigan has now lost four players for the season to injury: Countess, defensive end Chris Wormley, linebacker Kaleb Ringer and offensive lineman Chris Bryant.

The Gophers host the Wolverines on Nov. 3 at TCF Bank Stadium.