The Michigan State Spartans came into Friday night’s matchup against the Northwestern Wildcats in Evanston as three-point underdog, but walked out of Ryan Field with a 38-21 victory. In fact, Michigan State never trailed after jumping out to an early 21-0 lead.
MSU didn’t tip its hand leading up to the game as to who would start at quarterback, but redshirt sophomore Payton Thorne drew the start, and played efficient football. He completed 15 of 26 passes for 185 yards, with one touchdown and zero turnovers.
While head coach Mel Tucker did not let the public know if Thorne won the starting job over Temple graduate transfer Anthony Russo prior to the game, Thorne told the media he found out he would be starting last Thursday.