EAST LANSING, Mich. — The fact there is a quarterback battle going on at Michigan State is news to virtually no one.
The fact it’s more than just a two-man race, however, might be.
Most of the attention this spring has surrounded fifth-year senior Payton Thorne, who has started the past two seasons for the Spartans, and redshirt freshman Katin Houser, the high-level recruit and assumed successor to Thorne, whether that be this season or next.
But the focus on that duo is glossing over the fact Noah Kim was Thorne’s backup last season and as he enters his fourth season in the program, Thorne is hardly ceding the job to one of his more recognizable teammates.
“We still have a few months until the season,” Thorne said this week as Michigan State went through its final week of spring practice. “Until that first game, it’s on. It’s a competition. You’ve got to attack every day like it’s the same.”
It’s what Kim has been doing ever since he arrived at Michigan State, a member Mark Dantonio’s final recruiting class. Of course, Kim and the rest of that group never played for Dantonio, who stepped down in February of 2020, leading to the hiring of Mel Tucker.
Since then, Tucker and his staff have recruited three quarterbacks —Hamp Fay, Houser and incoming freshman Sam Leavitt. While Fay has moved around and is now playing tight end, Houser is in the thick of the battle and Leavitt is a four-star recruit who comes with own set of high expectations.
It’s a scenario that would seem to suggest Kim might be the odd man out, a player the current staff never recruited.
Just don’t try and convince Kim of that.
“I wouldn’t say I’m the forgotten guy,” Kim said. “I think I bring the intensity every day and I come to work. If there’s one thing that Spartan fans or anybody associated with Michigan State knows it’s that I bring intensity, I bring competition and I work hard and they’re going to get the best out of me every day.”
For Kim’s first two seasons he was forced to prove himself, first on the scout team then backing up Thorne and Anthony Russo. Last fall, Kim finally got his chance to see the field and he made the most of his limited opportunities.
In four games, Kim was 14-for-19 passing for 174 yards and three touchdowns. After appearing for one play against Western Michigan, Kim was 2-for-2 for 22 yards and a touchdown to Tre Mosley in the win over Akron. He followed that by going 6-for-7 for 70 yards and a 27-yard touchdown pass to Germie Bernard in the loss to Minnesota, then went 6-for-10 for 82 yards with a 25-yard TD to strike to Montorie Foster Jr. against Ohio State.
Those chances not only proved to the coaching staff that Kim could handle himself just fine in game situations, but it gave Kim the confidence heading into this offseason that he could stake his claim as Michigan State’s starting quarterback.
“Realistically, I think it does give you a little bit more confidence just going into practices,” Kim said. “But I try not to focus on what anybody did last year, including myself. I try not to think about what I did last year and I feel like that year is over with. It's something that I would like to carry forward into every practice and go into games with confidence level, leadership and stuff like that. But I try not to focus on that too much because there's a lot of room to grow.”
Whether Kim has made that growth yet remains to be seen.
Earlier in spring practice, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jay Johnson said he was pleased with Kim’s progress, but there needed to be a focus on some fundamentals.
“Noah has been very solid on things,” Johnson said. “One of the things that Noah brings, I do like his run ability. He has shown some good things in the run game. We've got to clean up a little bit some of the technique and fundamentals we saw coming out of (the first scrimmage) with him. But it's great because it's fixable for him and he knows what we’ve got to do there.
“But his timing, as far as what he's seeing, I think is positive. There are a few things that he has to focus on from an identification process that will get fixed.”
The good news for Kim is he’ll have time to get everything squared away. Johnson and Tucker won’t be naming a starter anytime soon, regardless of what happens Saturday in Michigan State’s final workout of the season, an open event at Spartan Stadium that takes the place of a traditional spring game.
After that, it’s a summer full of workouts heading into preseason camp in August. By then, Kim is hoping he turns a three-man race into a one-man show.
“The competition has been great,” Kim said. “We definitely raised the level of intensity this year going into the season. It’s pushing us all to be better as athletes and as people just in general. It’s something that gets you to wake up in the morning and really want to get to work and you have a lot to look forward to.”
