What Boston College HC Bill O'Brien Said About Michigan State

"We've got to show up," O'Brien said. "We've got to play well. I think we got off to a good start today (in practice).

"We're excited about the opportunity. I coached in the Big Ten, I know what those stadiums are like; to be able to go on the road and have the opportunity to play a team like Michigan State, led by a great head coach in Jonathan Smith and a really, really, tough, physical football team.

"It's going to be a matchup of two physical teams; two, I believe, well-coached teams, but a great opportunity for us to be on national TV, on NBC."

O'Brien was the head coach at Penn State for two seasons back in 2012-13 but didn't face MSU in either of those years. Saturday's game will be the first time O'Brien will have coached in Spartan Stadium.

Of course, it won't be the first time O'Brien will face MSU. There are some things that the Eagles' head coach is taking from last year's meeting, but there are also a lot of differences in this season's matchup.

"The one thing that I think is obviously not the same is you're playing there now, and so it's going to be really loud," O'Brien said. "It's a night game, they have great fans. We have to be ready to handle the noise. We have to be very poised in the beginning of the game. We've got to be able to weather the storm. They're going to come out ready to go. We need to come out ready to go and match that intensity.

"So, you can look at all the things that happened in last year's game, but it's definitely a different year, and especially the fact that we're on the road now, night game. Great opportunity. We should embrace it. We need to go out there and play with poise."

On Aidan Chiles and MSU's Offense

"I watch the tape," O'Brien said when asked about Chiles. "He's very good, he's a good passer, he's got a really good arm, he can throw the ball down the field. They take shots. We've got to be ready for that.

"They run the football. I think their offensive line is very well-coached. They have some really good receivers, Nick Marsh. They've got a good back (either Makhi Frazier or Brandon Tullis), who I think is very good. And 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, but we're going to do the best we can."

On MSU's Defense

"They do a great job," O'Brien said. "They're tough. They're one of the best defenses we'll face all year.

"Very good up front, very well-coached, aggressive. They have a different third-down game plan every week. You can't really base it on anything.

"You just do the best you can to study the tape, get your team prepared, because you're going to see something different on third down on Saturday. I think they just do a great job; I give a lot of credit to their defensive staff.

"I think they're one of the better-coached teams that we play."