Michigan State Football: 3 takeaways from road victory against Miami

2. The Spartans have their quarterback

With all due respect to Brian Lewerke and Rocky Lombardi, the Spartans have not had a transformational quarterback since Connor Cook. Let’s not put the cart before the horse here. Payton Thorne has played well but the rest remains to be seen.

That said, Thorne looks to be the quarterback offensive coordinator Jay Johnson wants running his system. Thorne makes good decisions with the ability to throw the football down the field.

Those attributes were on display today against Miami. Thorne was accurate, completing nearly 60 percent of his passes, four touchdowns, and (most important) no interceptions.

Throne made the right reads all game long, which included knowing when to throw the ball away. What the offensive staff did a good job of today was scheming chunk plays.

The Spartans used the screen game and the swing pass to get the ball to set up the dowfield passing game. Fortunately for the Spartans, Thorne can get the ball there with velocity or touch.

Thorne’s play demonstrated possibly his most important attribute; he knows how to get the ball to the playmakers on the offense.