Michigan State football's quarterback candidates 'all on the same page' in preseason camp

EAST LANSING — Once again, No. 10 took the first reps at quarterback on the first portion of Michigan State football’s first preseason practice.
Only that jersey contained Noah Kim, not Payton Thorne.
The Spartans began the post-Thorne era Thursday, the competition for the QB job remaining open following the two-year starter’s surprising transfer to Auburn in April.
Almost all media eyes during the open portion of practice — a span of at least 15 minutes — as well as those of Mel Tucker all morning, were fixated on the quarterbacks. With the incumbent gone from what had been a three-man battle four months earlier, the battle for who will emerge as the starter — between Kim (a junior), Katin Houser (a redshirt freshman) and Sam Leavitt (a true freshman) — was just beginning on a warm August morning in the shadows of Spartan Stadium.
Michigan State quarterbacks Noah Kim, right, and Katin Houser talk during the opening day of MSU's football fall camp on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023, in East Lansing.
Asked about what he saw, Tucker jokingly quipped, “You wanna know who the starter’s going to be?”
It drew plenty of laughs from the media, including a chuckle from Tucker — a lighthearted moment to start what will sharpen into a serious competition in the weeks leading into the Sept. 1 opener against Central Michigan.
“What I saw today was really good competition," Tucker said after practice. “I was impressed with those guys. (Offensive coordinator) Jay Johnson is an excellent coach, he's a very good teacher. I've seen him bring Noah along and Katin along. And Sam’s even gotten better since he's been here a short period of time because we were able to work with him over the summer. So very good competition, a lot of good balls being thrown. Really good communication, guys on the same page with the formations and checks. So it was good work out of that group.”
The trio are jockeying to replace one of the most prolific quarterbacks in MSU history. Thorne led the Spartans to an 11-2 record and top-10 finish in the polls — including a Peach Bowl victory — in 2021 before battling injuries and inconsistency (much like the entire team) during last year’s 5-7 downturn. His 49 touchdown passes rank fourth-most in MSU history, his 60.9% completion percentage is fifth-best and his 6,494 passing yards and 524 completions are sixth. In starting all of the Spartans’ 26 games under Tucker, who's entering his fourth season, the Mark Dantonio recruit went 16-10.
But Tucker announced an open competition for the starting job before spring practice started in March, and Thorne — despite appearing to have a lead in the race once the 15 practices concluded — opted to leave.
Both Houser and Kim said the potential for a transfer had been murmured about before it happened.
“I heard rumors before,” said Houser, a four-star recruit in the 2022 class. “But then just hearing the news, I kind of figured that's where he was going. I mean, it was kind of a shock, because he was a leader for our team. And I realized that there's going to be a vacancy for that spot. So it's just understanding that and realizing that this is my chance to step up and take the job is something that I took really seriously.”
Michigan State's Noah Kim throws a pass during the opening day of MSU's football fall camp on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023, in East Lansing.
Kim, by far, owns the most experience, though it's still minimal: 38 snaps in four appearances last season, going 14-for-19 for 174 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Houser got his collegiate baptism against Akron with six snaps, completing one of two attempts before serving as the No. 3 option and preserving a redshirt. Leavitt, a four-star recruit and the Gatorade player of the year in Oregon, didn’t get to campus until this summer.
Kim called Thursday’s first practice “a solid first day.”
“I thought we practiced at a very high pace,” said Kim, who was Dantonio’s final quarterback recruit in the 2020 class that Tucker inherited. “And that's one of the things coach Tucker wanted us to do, make the practices harder than the games. And for Day 1, I thought we did that. We're all in shape, but it was like, whoa, we practiced fast, especially the new guys. I thought everybody, the new guys and the guys that have been, I thought we were all on the same page.”
That was one of Thorne’s strongest attributes. A year ago, as preseason camp opened, Tucker said he brought in “The Program” training program to work with the team during the offseason — something he did again this summer — “and they told us that Payton was the best that they had seen go through that program in terms of leadership.”
It is an area both Kim and Houser admit is one of their biggest challenges in trying to replace Thorne.
“I'm trying to get better at leading every single day, and I think that's one thing Payton did well and something that I can take away from his game is his leadership,” Kim said. “If I can do some of the things he did and take bits and pieces from other people around me ... I think it's going to better ourselves.”
Michigan State's Katin Houser throws a pass during the opening day of MSU's football fall camp on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023, in East Lansing.
Houser said he and Kim are good friends who have discussed how to compete without causing friction among the rest of the team. It comes down to having fun, he said, and “not trying to look too much in the competition, just going out there and trying to play.”
Although he is in just his second year in the program, Houser also understands being a leader means taking Leavitt under his wing to help him transition to college. Houser had a full spring after enrolling early in January 2022 to prepare for last season, while Leavitt is getting thrown into the mix after just a few scant months in the program.
“I feel like the biggest thing that I was trying to do when I came in into his position was trying to be perfect,” Houser said of Leavitt. “I was trying to do everything perfect, and you realize that you're not a complete product when you first come in. You have to get coaching, you have to get developed. So I feel like, for Sam, I think the biggest thing is just to take coaching and be able to just learn and try to get better every single day, not trying to be perfect every single day.”
Tucker insisted it will be a three-man competition this month, though the likelihood of Leavitt starting is low. Ostensibly, it should eventually come down to a decision for Tucker and Johnson between Kim and Houser for the direction of the program this season.
How long the competition will take to decide a starter for Week 1 seems just as difficult to predict on Day 1 as it does in projecting whether it could continue into the season.
Someone will have to start against the Chippewas. And their teammates are just as eager to watch the QBs battle it out, throw for throw, over the next month.
“They come here to work every day and they just try to make the best out of the opportunity every day,” senior wide receiver Montorie Foster said. “They got a different mentality coming in. It's '(may) the best man win.' ”