East Lansing - With Michigan State beginning fall camp on Thursday, these are the five top positional questions that need to be answered this month:
1. Who will be the starting quarterback?
The Background: Sophomore Payton Thorne finished last year in promising fashion, taking the job from Rocky Lombardi in what proved to be the final game of the season, at Penn State. Thorne was 22-of-39 for 325 yards against the Nittany Lions, setting a school record for most passing yards by a freshman in a single game, and also setting a record for most yards by a Spartan QB in his first start.
Anthony Russo, a graduate transfer from Temple who was a three-year starter for the Owls, didn’t come to the Big Ten to hold a clipboard. He set a Temple school record for completions in a season in 2019.
Thorne seemed to hold a slight edge over Russo during the spring, with Thorne having more experience in Jay Johnson’s system. Russo said in April that he would immerse himself in MSU’s playbook and film room to get ready to win the starting job in August.
The Forecast: It’s a coin flip for now. Even the coaches aren’t sure who the starter is going to be. They aren’t likely to give any indication who the first-stringer is until game day at Northwestern on Sept. 3. SpartanMag gives a slight edge to the older, bigger, more experienced guy. But it’s going to be difficult to keep Thorne off the field.
2. How will the new faces at cornerback shake out?
The Background: Michigan State has Kalon Gervin as a returning starter, but shuffled Dominique Long (Duke) and Chris Jackson (Washington State) to the transfer portal while Shakur Brown left to chase NFL dreams a year early.