UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — That first pass got away from Payton Thorne. Perhaps a byproduct of nervous jitters of making his first collegiate start.
After another incompletion, Michigan State football’s redshirt freshman slowly built a rhythm by hitting the next 12 throws that followed. Three went for touchdowns. A glance at the Beaver Stadium scoreboard showed the Spartans up by 11 points as they went into the locker room at halftime.
“I thought that we were all in pretty good rhythm,” Thorne said.
But the inconsistency that has plagued MSU all season returned in the second half — and it wasn’t just the offense getting stuck in the quicksand.