Payton Thorne makes his transfer to Auburn official

Former Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne has made his transfer decision official, picking Auburn after just a few days in the portal.

Payton Thorne has been in the transfer portal for less than a week and he’s already found a new home. On Friday, it was reported that the former Michigan State quarterback is officially an Auburn Tiger.

BREAKING: Auburn has its portal QB as Michigan State grad transfer Payton Thorne has committed to the Tigers.

The single-season Spartan TD record holder arrives at Auburn with two years of eligibility remaining.

More: https://t.co/Ss09y49I6x pic.twitter.com/XIpYmQRhzJ

— Christian Clemente (@CClemente247) May 5, 2023

After this transfer, Michigan State fans can now officially focus on the quarterback battle in East Lansing between Katin Houser and Noah Kim. Starting fresh at the position is something fans have been wanting for the past few months and now they’re getting their wish.

Thorne, on the other hand, will have to prepare for one of the toughest schedules in college football, facing teams like Alabama, LSU, and Georgia next season. All three of those teams are likely to start the season in the top five. If he can prove himself as a top quarterback in the SEC, he can shake off the notion that he only had a record-breaking season in 2021 because of Kenneth Walker III.

But Auburn is also facing an uphill battle under new head coach Hugh Freeze.

Like Michigan State, Auburn missed out on a bowl game last year and the Tigers were one of the worst teams in the SEC before moving on from Bryan Harsin.

Now that Freeze is in town, he went into the portal to find his quarterback and he believes that Thorne could be the right guy to guide Auburn back to a bowl game. Having Thorne commit to Auburn just five days after entering the portal and without having taken a visit is curious, however.

The transfer portal is ruthless nowadays and it feels like free agency, at times — this is one of those times.

We’ll be cheering Payton Thorne on from East Lansing, but it’s time to move forward and start fresh at quarterback in 2023.