Michigan State Football: Report card for epic win over No. 6 Michigan

Payton Thorne: B

If this game was decided after the first quarter and I was forced to give my grades then, I would have given Thorne a C- or D+. He looked really bad early on.

In fact, he threw a pass into double coverage in the first quarter on third down on a deep post route which was just as good as a punt, but it was still a poor decision. He then had a pass batted into the air and intercepted shortly after which led to a field goal and the Wolverines were up 10-0 after his two early turnovers.

Thorne settled down in the second quarter, making a huge fourth-down throw to Jalen Nailor which led to a touchdown run by Kenneth Walker III on the next play.

And with Nailor out in the second half and his options limited, he connected with Jayden Reed plenty in order to move the ball efficiently. His best pass was on fourth down and four yards to go with Michigan State trailing 30-14. He hit Reed on a fade route toward the goal line where he perfectly placed the ball over his shoulder. It led to another easy score for Walker.

Thorne also made two huge two-point conversion throws that couldn’t have been better.

He settled down in the final three quarters and didn’t make a ton of mistakes but I would have liked him to tuck and run with the ball more when given room to do so.

The sophomore quarterback finished with 196 yards on 19-of-30 completions.