Michigan State football QB Payton Thorne enters transfer portal
One of the most prolific passers in Michigan State football history appears prepared to leave the program.
Payton Thorne entered the NCAA transfer portal Sunday as a graduate transfer, a program spokesman confirmed. He has been the Spartans’ starting quarterback the past two seasons, going 16-10 since his first start at the end of the 2020 season, and he guided MSU to an 11-2 season in 2021 with a Peach Bowl victory over Pitt.
MSU's leading receiver Keon Coleman also entered the transfer portal Sunday.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Thorne’s 49 touchdown passes are fourth-most in MSU history, his 6,494 passing yards are sixth-all-time, his 60.9% completion percentage is fifth-best, and his 524 completions rank sixth.
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However, coach Mel Tucker opened a competition for the starting quarterback job this spring between Thorne, redshirt junior Noah Kim and redshirt freshman Katin Houser. Tucker said there was no clarity coming out of the final spring practice and the competition would continue into preseason camp.
“We have to play the players that give us the best chance to win at every position,” Tucker said, “and quarterback's no different. … We're expecting a pretty fierce competition during the spring, throughout the summer and into fall camp.”
Sunday was the final day of the spring window for football players to enter the portal. They may still return to their previous school, as MSU experienced with Connor Heyward in 2019 and Ben VanSumeren last year.
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Thorne is scheduled to graduate this week with a degree in communications.
A son and grandson of championship-winning college football coaches, Thorne arrived in 2019 as a late addition three-star recruit in Mark Dantonio’s penultimate recruiting class. After redshirting that season, he stuck around through the transition with Tucker in 2020, got his first start at Penn State to close that season when Rocky Lombardi was hurt, then got the job full-time over Temple grad transfer Anthony Russo in 2021 after Lombardi transferred to Northern Illinois.
Thorne threw for 3,233 yards and a school-record 27 touchdowns with 10 interceptions in 2021. His passing numbers dropped last season to 2,679 yards with 19 scores and 11 picks last season, though he admitted he was injured in the first game against Western Michigan and never felt healthy.
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Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football QB Payton Thorne enters transfer portal
