After a close road loss against Missouri last week, Boston College football has another out-of-conference game against Michigan State Alumni Stadium this weekend. Below is a Q&A with Oren Basse from The Only Colors. Thank you, Oren!

BCI: Like BC, Michigan State is in its first year under a new head coach. Obviously, the Mel Tucker situation was bad in all sorts of ways, so what was the reaction of the fanbase to the hiring of Jonathan Smith and how has the feeling around the program changed?

MSU: I think Spartan Nation would like to have the Mel Tucker years zapped from our memories, Men In Black style (or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind if I am making movie references). Basically, we were just looking forward to anything else, but the early returns on the Coach Smith era have been great. Certainly, it has gone better than expected. Last year, which played with an interim coach for the final 10 games, the players had no intensity and often just looked lost out on the field, especially against the top-tier opponents that we played. This year, the biggest difference has been the energy the team is playing with. They are playing harder and they are having fun doing it. They have each others’ backs, which we can see on the field and hear in the post-game press conferences. No one is expecting a Big Ten championship or a playoff berth this season, but most Spartan fans will tell you this is a program heading back in the right direction.

BCI: The Spartans have played Maryland, FAU, and Prairie View A&M, and beaten all of them. I know it’s early in the season, but based on MSU’s results so far, what are your expectations for the rest of the season?

MSU: I came into the season predicting 7-5. While I am happy with being 3-0 so far, anyone who has watched the games will tell you they are just a few plays away from being 1-2. The good news is this team is already learning how to win games late. The bad news is they still are making lots of mistakes before that point. I do expect some of these mistakes to get cleaned up and for play to improve as the season goes on, but I am not ready to move much from my initial prediction. After our trip to BC this weekend, we host Ohio State and then go to Oregon the following Friday night. We also have trips to a couple other currently ranked teams, UM and Illinois. Being a young team, I could see them also losing a game they should have won. So I will stick with 7-5, but I am gaining confidence that they will go into Ann Arbor and beat UM, and if they do that, we could even see 8-4.

BCI: What have been the most and least impressive aspects of Michigan State so far?

MSU: I’ll start with the least impressive. Penalties. MSU is averaging 11 penalties per game for an average of 114 yards per game. There have been several 15-yarders for personal fouls. This team needs to be more disciplined.

The most impressive aspect I would say has been the depth. On the defensive line, in the secondary, and amongst the pass catchers, MSU is getting contributions from a large number of players. For example, in the last game (granted it was against Prairie View), ten different Spartan d-linemen played double-digit snaps. But it is not just getting guys in late in the game after taking out the starters. MSU is rotating guys in and out all game, keeping everyone fresh for the end of the game. Maybe this is helping us win the close ones down to the wire.

BCI: Pick one player on offense and defense and tell us why they could be an x-factor against BC.

MSU: On offense, it’s wide receiver Nick Marsh. This 17-year-old true-freshman is already arguably the best talent on the whole team. He certainly has the highest ceiling. He has speed, he has moves, and he has hands. He is quarterback Aidan Chiles’ favorite deep target. He had a 77-yard TD reception against Maryland where he just ran right past the defense and then won the foot race to the end zone after catching the pass. He is a big-play threat whenever he is on the field.

Defensively, I would have to go eeny-meeny-miny-mo among a few different guys in the secondary, but I will settle on Charles Brantley. Like Marsh, he has big-play potential. He took a pick back from his own end zone for a touchdown this past week; he had another pick-six on the same drive that was called back because of a penalty. He is always near the ball and, even if he is not intercepting it, he is stopping the receiver from coming down with the ball.

BCI: Who is your favorite MSU player to watch this year?

MSU: This may seem like an easy answer, but I am going with our new QB, Aidan Chiles. Chiles came from Oregon State along with our new coach. This is his first season as a starter as he was DJ Uiagalelei’s backup last season. Growing pains are to be expected, and certainly there have been a few already. But I can see him getting better each game. He is settling into his role and getting more comfortable out there. He’s got a big arm and can deliver passes with some heat on them, but his accuracy is still a work in progress. He did have a perfect dime on that 77-yarder, though. He feels likes a microcosm for this team right now, and I am looking forward to seeing more improvement from him as we get further into autumn.

BCI: How do you predict this game will play out?

MSU: Another tight game for the Spartans, but I think they have the weapons to take another one on the Atlantic coast. I say MSU squeaks it out, 30-27.