Payton

Thorne

Agim was a third-round pick by the Broncos in 2020, but hasn’t done better than a rotational role at the NFL. Never a good sign when you’re getting dropped by the Bengals as an interior lineman. The team also waived CB Nate Brooks, WR Cole Burgess, HB Quali Conley, S Shaquan Loyal, WR Rashod Owens, C Andrew Raym, CB Lance Robinson, G Andrew Stueber, QB Payton Thorne and LB Craig Young. Additionally they released DT Taven Bryan.

With star running back Kenneth Walker not playing, Thorne (6'2/210) needed to put the game in his hands. Early on, he did just that. Six plays into the game, he threw a touchdown to Jayden Reed in the corner of the end zone. In the third quarter, Thorne tried escaping the pocket on third down. The ball was knocked loose and it was returned for a touchdown by Cam Bright. On the next drive, Thorne led the Spartans down inside the Pitt 30 where they turned the ball over on downs after a failed fade route in the end zone to Jalen Nailer. He finished the game with two touchdown passes, one on a seam route to Connor Heyward and another fade route to Jayden Reed for the game-winner. Thorne played better as the season progressed, tossing 27 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

The Buckeyes had absolutely no trouble scoring, taking an early huge lead that never evaporated. That forced Thorne (6'2"/210) to carry the offensive load without RB Kenneth Walker (who only received six carries) and he was unable to answer the call. With no threat of the run, Thorne could not consistently complete passes, and any ones he did were short outside of a 46-yarder to Tre Mosley. To be fair, OSU’s defense was flying around, breaking passes up and securing tackles, but Thorne never really posed a remote threat all game. He got a garbage time touchdown in the fourth quarter, tossing a fade to Keon Coleman to avoid the shutout. Thorne was up against it with how poor the Spartans defense played, and will hope to have a better situation next week against Penn State.

Yes, there was the interception, but outside of that, this was an outstanding game for Thorne on Saturday. He found Jaylen Reed for two of his touchdowns, with Montorie Foster and Connor Heyward hauling in the other two, respectively. He was accurate with his throws, and showed he can get the ball downfield at times, as well. Thorne is going to have to be just this good -- if not better -- next Saturday when the 6-foot-2, 210-pound signal-caller faces off against Ohio State.

Nailor is the second-leading receiver on the Spartans with a receiving line of 32/584/6 on 61 targets. Nailor missed last Saturday’s game against Purdue, but Thorne (6'2/210) didn’t hesitate to get his other pass catchers involved as he targeted eight different players in the team’s 40-29 loss. When asked about Nailor being absent, Thorne said, “Jalen’s a great player, I love throwing to him, but I trust the guys we have behind him as well.” We will wait to see if Nailor will return on Saturday against Maryland, but Thorne doesn’t seem to be worried about who he has to throw to. On the year, Thorne has thrown for 2,163 yards, 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

You can’t lay this loss at the feet of Thorne (6'2/210), as the redshirt sophomore made some very good throws and was just as dangerous on the ground, rushing eight times for 37 yards and a 32-yard touchdown scramble that brought MSU within one score of the Boilermakers. His best play came when he was pressured and was almost in the grasp of a Purdue defensive linemen before breaking free and delivering a 26-yard touchdown pass to Tre Mosley to tie the game at 7-7. However his miscue was a costly one, with the Spartans in the red zone mid-way through the fourth quarter, he threw an interception on the one yard line that ended that potential scoring drive and led to a field goal on the ensuing possession for Purdue. Michigan State will try to pick up the pieces from the tough loss when they play Maryland next Saturday.

Thorne (6'2/210) was essentially there to keep Michigan’s defense from keying too hard on the run and handoff the ball to Kenneth Walker who accounted for all five touchdowns. His two interceptions came in the first half and led directly to 10 points for the Wolverines, however he settled down after halftime when he piloted three touchdown drives to secure the come-from-behind win. He will try to avoid any costly turnovers next week when MSU travels to play Purdue.

Let’s call a spade a spade: Sparty survived despite a poor performance from its starting quarterback today. But survive they did to remain undefeated (MSU even covered as 4.5-point favorites!). Thorne won’t take many highlights away from today, but he did have one in a 12-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Hunt late in the third quarter that gave MSU an eight-point cushion in the eventual 20-15 victory. Now 7-0, Sparty has a much-needed bye next week before a crucial home date with archival Michigan.

After a battle in camp with Anthony Russo, Thorne (6'2/210) has taken this team to heights that were unexpected. Through just six games, Thorne has already tied the Big Ten record shared by four others for most 60-yard touchdowns in a season with five. The Spartans have thrived by the big play and will need to keep that up this Saturday against Indiana if they want to have a chance at making the playoff.

Thorne (6'2/210) had a GPS lock on Jalen Nailor in the game, with the two hooking up for all three of Thorne’s passing touchdowns on the day. The redshirt sophomore signal caller averaged a pristine 12.6 yards per pass attempt while piloting the Spartans’ offense to a gaudy 588 total yards. His touchdown passes weren’t cheap ones either as Thorne’s scores went for 63, 63 and 65 yards in the high flying offensive explosion against the Scarlet Knights. He will lead MSU into battle next Saturday against a sputtering Indiana team.