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Sep 21, 2024; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Aidan Chiles (2) is sacked by Boston College Eagles defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku (6) during the second half at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images Eric Canha-Imagn Images

BC Football Coach Bill O'Brien, DB Carter Davis Preview Michigan Sate QB and Offense

Originally posted on Boston College Eagles on SI
By Graham Dietz | Last updated Sep 2, 2025 3:05 PM ET

The stats might not show it, according to Boston College football head coach Bill O’Brien, but Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles—who the Eagles picked off three times in 2024 when the Spartans visited Chestnut Hill, Mass., on Sept. 21—is a difficult player to face due to his dual-threat nature and rocket of an arm.

“I’m not big into stats,” O’Brien said. “I watched the tape. He’s very good. He’s a good passer. He’s got a really good arm. … They take shots. We got to be ready for that.”

Chiles, a junior from Long Beach, Calif., got his first taste of competing against BC last season at Alumni Stadium, when he threw for 241 yards (6.9 yards per attempt) on 17-for-35 passing with three interceptions. Chiles additionally picked up 57 yards on the ground on nine attempts, including a rushing touchdown, in the Spartans’ 23-19 road loss at Alumni Stadium.

The script for BC’s MSU rematch in 2025 will be quite different, however.

For starters, the Eagles are on the road this time—the game will be played during prime-time hours on Saturday, in East Lansing, Mich., with the contest scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Secondly, the game will be aired on live television on NBC, so there will be a few more eyes on the matchup—realistically, hundreds of thousands more.

Finally, the last contest between the two programs was BC’s Red Bandanna game, which is played annually by the program in honor of Welles Crowther, a former BC graduate and lacrosse player who tragically died in the Sept. 11 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City, N.Y., after saving over a dozen lives and choosing to go back into the towers to save more.

Before Crowther passed, a person who survived the attacks saw Crowther donning a red bandanna on his way back into the crashing towers. The red bandanna has become a symbol of honor “For Welles” at BC, and in the greater college sports community as a way to remember him as a hero.

All of these factors will make the Eagles’ matchup against the Spartans this season, lightly put, far more difficult than what transpired in 2024.

As for Chiles, the Spartans’ signal caller did not necessarily awe the Spartans’ faithful this past Saturday in MSU’s season-opening triumph over Western Michigan, recording 155 yards on 17-for-23 passing with a touchdown. But sophomore Makhi Frazier registered 103 rushing yards and a score on 14 carries, which made up for the lack of passing offense.

Still, O’Brien is impressed with the skillset of Chiles, who accumulated 2,415 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and 255 yards on the ground, including three rushing scores, in 2024. Chiles completed passes at a rate of 59.4 percent last season.

“He can throw, and he can run,” O’Brien said. “He’s very athletic, and he can rip. When you watch the tape, he’ll throw a 20-yard comeback to the field from the left hash out to the right hash, or right hash out to the right sideline, or right hash out to the left sideline. He’s got a cannon for an arm. He throws a beautiful deep ball.”

The Spartans’ leading pass catcher in 2024, Nick Marsh, is back for his second year—the 6-foot-3, 203-pound Marsh played as a true freshman in 2024—and is a target who is difficult to contain in the secondary due to his lanky frame.

“They have some really good receivers,” O’Brien said. “They’ve got a good back, [who] I think is very good. I think Chiles does a great job. If you let him run around, if you let him take the game over, it’ll be a long night for us. So we’ve got to do a great job of understanding, you know, just doing the best we can to contain him, which is hard to do.”

Defensive back Carter Davis said that the Eagles mentality heading into a nationally-televised game is the same as always.

Every day, BC focuses on improving one day at a time, one play at a time, and gaining at least one percent of improvement, whether it’s during practice, off the field during position meetings, during recovery, or in the classroom.

“It’s gonna be a big game, but we just focus on today,” Davis said. “It’s getting better today. Honestly. Got meetings later, got class today. So we just take it step by step. … We played Missouri [on the road] last year. We played Florida State last year. We want those types of games.”

Davis is also confident that Chiles, Marsh and the rest of MSU’s players will bring their best on Saturday because of the Spartans’ loss to the Eagles last year. This is a revenge game for MSU—on home turf.

“They got big, great players,” Davis said. “They young players. [Chiles] electrifies, like he gets out of the pocket, scrambles, throw the ball deep. [Marsh] is a big receiver, he’s skillful. Not just them. The whole team as a collective.”

This article first appeared on Boston College Eagles on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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