Payton Thorne

Thorne originally attended Metea Valley High School in Aurora, Illinois before transferring to Naperville Central High School in Naperville, Illinois. As a senior in 2018, he was named the Chicago Sun-Times and Naperville Sun Player of the Year after throwing for 3,113 yards and 40 touchdowns.[1][2] Thorne originally committed to Western Michigan University to play college football but later switched to Michigan State University.[3][4]

Thorne was redshirted his first year at Michigan State in 2019.[5] In 2020, he played in four games as a backup to Rocky Lombardi and made one start. In his first career start against Penn State he passed for 325 yards and three touchdowns.[6][7] For the season, he completed 48 of 85 passes for 582 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Thorne was named the Spartans starter to open the 2021 season.[8][9] In the 2023 offseason, Thorne transferred to Auburn to play under newly acquired head coach Hugh Freeze.

In his first full year as a starter in 2021 Thorne threw for 3,240 yards, 27 TDs, 10 INTs, with a 77.7 QBR.[10]

Statistics

Season	Games			Passing								Rushing
	GP	GS	Record	Cmp	Att	Pct	Yds	Avg	TD	Int	Rtg	Att	Yds	Avg	TD
Michigan State Spartans
2019	Redshirt
2020	4	1	0–1	48	85	56.5	582	6.8	3	3	118.6	25	47	1.9	1
2021	13	13	11–2	235	389	60.4	3,232	8.3	27	10	148.0	82	181	2.2	4
2022	12	12	5–7	242	387	62.5	2,679	6.9	19	11	131.2	60	42	0.7	1
Auburn Tigers
2023	5	5	3–2	59	94	62.8	643	6.8	4	4	125.8	45	198	4.4	2
Career	34	31	19−12	584	955	61.2	7,144	7.5	53	28	136.4	212	468	2.2	8

Thorne is a Christian.[11] Thorne's father, Jeff Thorne, was the offensive coordinator at Western Michigan in 2022.[12]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Payton Thorne.

• Michigan State Spartans bio