And because of those high expectations, Thorne wasn’t too pleased with his performance against Western Michigan. He completed 50% of his passes for 233 yards and four touchdowns in the 35-13 victory over the Broncos, but threw some uncharacteristic overthrows and an interception on a play where he could've ran for an easy first-down.

“I thought we did some good things throughout the game, thought we had some good plays, shots down the field, but I was disappointed with the deep balls that I missed, just put it too far out there for the guys,” Thorne said.

The overthrows especially seemed to stick out in his mind after film sessions, especially since he wasn’t making those mistakes in fall camp.

“That was frustrating, something I need to clean up moving forward,” Thorne said.

Despite the somewhat shaky start, Head Football Coach Mel Tucker still has the utmost faith in his starting quarterback based on what he saw from him last season. Before the season even began, he spoke about how in addition to leading by example, he has also become a vocal leader during the off-season.

“It’s all about consistency and performance,” Tucker said. “We look really really, really good and sometimes we look really, really, really bad, so that's what we need to do, but I'm glad I'm glad Payton's our quarterback. I know that much. I know what he's made of.”

Immediately after the win over Western, Thorne admitted that he was “disappointed” in his play, something that doesn’t surprise Tucker and attributes it to him being a “perfectionist.”

Thorne also agrees with the notion that he strives for perfection, saying that he remembers as early as sixth grade an art teacher had told him to stop being so detailed. He was unable to do so, quoting that’s just “how he’s wired.”

This is in part from advice he’s heard from his dad.

“My dad always told me, strive for perfection and settle for excellence, that's kind of what I live by,” Thorne said.

Although Tucker has faith in Thorne as a leader, he does want to see continued improvement – as he wants to see in the rest of his players.

“I liked some of the things that he did, but I mean, obviously he's got some room to improve just like everyone else out there,” Tucker said.

Going forward, Thorne will have to improve in order to play at the same level as last season, if not better, if the Spartans hope to meet their goals and prove that their 11-2 season wasn’t a fluke.

Last season MSU could rely on Walker for a large chunk of the offense, but without having a proven running back on that same level, much of the offensive firepower will have to come from Thorne. Therefore, Thorne will have to step it up in the upcoming matchups and work out the kinks seen in the Western game.

“I feel like we’re in the right mindset going into Week two,” Thorne said. “We’re looking to get better as a team. We’re looking to execute. We’re looking to clean up the things we didn’t do very well week one and we have a lot of room to improve and a lot of room to grow.”

Michigan State and Thorne will be given a chance to work some things out and get a chance to improve in game scenarios when they host the Akron Zips this Saturday at 4 p.m.