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Michigan State Football: 3 improvements to make before Youngstown State

By Connor Muldowney

Sep 3, 2021; Evanston, Illinois, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Mel Tucker claps as fans cheer as he walks off the field after their win over the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field. The Michigan State Spartans won 38-21. Mandatory Credit: Jon Durr-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 3, 2021; Evanston, Illinois, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Mel Tucker claps as fans cheer as he walks off the field after their win over the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field. The Michigan State Spartans won 38-21. Mandatory Credit: Jon Durr-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 3, 2021; Evanston, Illinois, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Payton Thorne (10) passes the ball against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first quarter at Ryan Field. Mandatory Credit: Jon Durr-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 3, 2021; Evanston, Illinois, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Payton Thorne (10) passes the ball against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first quarter at Ryan Field. Mandatory Credit: Jon Durr-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Deep ball accuracy

We saw plenty of explosive plays from Michigan State’s offense against Northwestern, but a lot of them could be attributed to Kenneth Walker III. That needs to even out moving forward.

Payton Thorne had a solid start, completing 15-of-25 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown with a long of 26 yards to Tre Mosley, but I’d like to see more down-field passing for him. The coaching staff allowed him to take a few shots, but one was slightly behind Jayden Reed, which would have likely been a score or a huge gainer if he was led correctly, and the others were overthrown.

Youngstown State is the perfect opponent to practice deep passes against and let Thorne air it out and gain some confidence in his home-run ball because the Penguins surrendered 352 passing yards to Incarnate Word and a few of them were over 30 yards.

Thorne should be able to air it out more against this secondary which struggled in the opener and I think all fans want to see him be a little more accurate with his deep ball.

We know Thorne can hit just about every short and intermediate route, but let’s open up the passing game a bit and let him toss it 40-50 yards down the field to Reed and Jalen Nailor.

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