Michigan State Football: 3 takeaways from blowout win over Youngstown State

1. Payton Thorne could be a special quarterback

After watching the season opener against Northwestern, it was pretty clear that Payton Thorne was the right choice for QB1. He missed some deep throws but otherwise looked like a solid quarterback, throwing for 185 yards and a touchdown on 15-of-25 completions.

His encore performance was incredible.

Thorne started the day against Youngstown State with a 75-yard touchdown pass on a flea-flicker to Jayden Reed and he just maintained that momentum throughout the afternoon.

Everyone seemed to be looking for Thorne to improve that deep-ball accuracy and he did just that against Youngstown State. The sophomore quarterback was throwing absolute dimes all afternoon long and finished the day with four touchdown passes and 280 yards on 15-of-21 completions. He probably should have had five touchdown passes and over 300 yards, but Jalen Nailor dropped a deep touchdown catch in the first half — he did make up for it.

Thorne looked like a confident quarterback all afternoon long and was making just about every throw from short to intermediate to deep. He looked like a special passer out there and improved in every area from last year and even from Week 1.

The Spartans may have found their latest NFL-caliber quarterback in Thorne.