Published Mar 25, 2022
Developmental Update: Thorne, QBs taking it up a notch this spring
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Jim Comparoni  •  Spartans Illustrated
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East Lansing, Mich. - Michigan State will have one of the top returning quarterbacks in the Big Ten and the country in 2022 in Payton Thorne. And no one at Michigan State is expecting a repeat performance from him in his junior year.

They are expecting better.

“I think one of the big points of emphasis for me is to get Payton Thorne to play at an even higher level,” Michigan State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jay Johnson said on Thursday. “He was really, really good last year. He was very solid. But I still think, as he and I have reviewed things and he and I have talked, the growth for him is really there still. For us to take that next step, I need to see that growth from him.”

Last year, Thorne completed 60 percent of his passes for 3,233 yards with 27 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Michigan State ranked No. 3 in the Big Ten in yards per pass attempt.

Thorne ranked No. 5 in the Big Ten in pass efficiency rating.

“I went back and watched games, watched different cut-ups of our offense,” Thorne said. “For me, there’s definitely a lot of stuff to work on, a lot of areas to improve.

“I would like to protect the ball more than I did last year. It started strong but then it started to get a little loose a couple of games. So tighten that up.

“Obviously you want your touchdown-to-interception ratio to be as big as it can be.

“Be more accurate on different throws. Decision-making. All that stuff. You can always find ways to get better and that’s what I will be focusing on through spring practice and in the off-season.”

Last spring, and throughout the summer and fall camp, Thorne was embroiled in a hotly-contested competition with Temple transfer Anthony Russo for the starting quarterback job.

Thorne eventually edged ahead and started all 12 games.

Now, Thorne’s job is secure, although he isn’t taking it for granted.

“This year it’s not necessarily a competition, but it is,” Thorne said. “You’re always competing for your job because no one’s job is safe. If you play like garbage, you’re going to get replaced.”

Thorne is pushing himself to take his game up a notch. In some ways, Johnson feels he is better-served to keep things simple.

“Payton is very cerebral,” Johnson said. “Coming from a football family, he really has a great grasp of things. He and I have talked about this before and sometimes he is almost too good mentally that it gets him in trouble.

“Even in spring ball, I have said, ‘Come on back. Just run the play,’ because he knows so much and he takes so much in.”

Johnson says Thorne has responded well to some fine-tuning thus far in March as Michigan State builds toward the spring scrimmage on April 16.

“Even this spring, I see things in our quarterback world is a little bit slower for him, which is what I want,” Johnson said. “I want everything around it to be chaotic and fast, but for our world it needs to be slower and I can just see the way he handles the team, the way he leads the team, those things are coming. I look for continued progression on those things. I think you’ll see improvements.”

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THE BACKUP QB PICTURE

Sophomore Noah Kim, redshirt freshman Hampton Fay and mid-year freshman enrollee Katin Houser are getting reps behind Thorne this spring.

Those three are expected to battle for the back-up job throughout the spring, off-season and into fall camp.

Kim (6-2, 185, Centreville, Va.) repped ahead of Fay (6-5, 220, Hudson Oaks, Texas) during pre-game warm-ups last fall. But it remains to be seen who emerges as the No. 2 man behind Thorne. That won’t be settled this spring, but these 15 practices in March and April are an important primary heading into the off-season.

“It’s extremely important (to work on depth at QB),” Johnson said. “Right now we are working all three guys. I’ve been pleased with Noah Kim. I think he’s done some very positive things.

“Hamp Fay continues to evolve. Hamp Fay is like 300 percent better than he was when he got here a year ago.

“Katin has just joined us at mid-year and is doing some things.”

None of those players has taken a rep in a college football game. They have been judged solely on practice performance to this point.

“We keep a pretty detailed rep count each day and I’m trying to get those other three in some situations and see how they respond,” Johnson said. “I need them to come along.

“We were blessed last year. Generally, you don’t get through the season with just one quarterback. I’m praying for that to happen again this year. But those other guys, I need them to press Payton and I need to get them ready so that we have that depth and we’re able to continue on.”

Houser is the highest-ranked QB prospect since Andrew Maxwell came in as the No. 142 player in the country in 2009. Maxwell started in 2012 but eventually lose the starting job in 2013 to eventual Rose Bowl champion Connor Cook.

Houser, from national power St. John Bosco in Bellflower, Calif., has shown terrific arm talent and a quick release thus far in spring practice.

“I think Katin has been very solid,” Johnson said. “He has really good football IQ. Really good student of the game.”

Houser, a native of Anaheim, Calif., finished his senior season at St. John Bosco in November, and enrolled at Michigan State in January.

“It’s a lot for anybody coming in, when they enter in, mid-year,” Johnson said. “But I’ve been pleased, really pleased. He has a really good skill set from his ability to throw the football and pretty good mobility.

“I think his future is really, really bright. We have to grow every day and he’s working at it. So I expect things from him.”