The Florida Atlantic football team is getting ready to kick off the 2024 season at East Lansing against the Michigan State Spartans. But not without getting some potential bulletin board material.
Spartans quarterback Aidan Chiles, a sophomore who transferred from Oregon State, recently went viral for comments he made last week on Aug. 22 about his expectations for the season opener.
He is getting his first taste to be the full-time starter from the beginning. In a Big Ten conference that consists of high-level talent on every team, he'll be quite occupied.
Taking over a Michigan State program that went 4-8 last year, Chiles displayed confidence when he made it clear to every sports better on what they should do on week one if they are betting on Michigan State and Florida Atlantic.
"If you bet, take the over," Chiles said.
Those six words caused a frenzy within both spheres of the Spartans and Owls. Even though it was eventually clarified that he was talking about the Michigan State's win total for the season, it was too late.
The Owls kicked off game week this Monday with head coach Tom Herman and players attending their first weekly press conference. While Herman did not speak nor was asked about what Chiles said, co-captain and defensive back Jayden Williams got the opportunity to respond to his comments.
"We don't really get into all that. We felt the same way we've been feeling before we even heard the comments," Williams said to Robbie Lastella of FAU Owls Nest.
"We're just ready to go out there and show what we can do. We practiced and we trained so hard for this moment, so we're not gonna let a little comment or little remark get us out of our game mode."
It's pretty clear that FAU won't allow distractions to disrupt their game plan before traveling to Michigan on Thursday, especially after naming their captains and Cam Fancher as their starting quarterback for solid preparation. Herman thought as much as well, giving credit to the Spartans for being a difficult place to play in.
"Certainly respect the heck out of Michigan State, and their tradition, their fan base, it's going to be a really, really difficult place to play. I know Coach [Jonathan] Smith does a phenomenal job, and we'll have those guys certainly ready," Herman said, as reported by FAU Owls Nest.
"But again, it poses unique challenges too, in week one to have a brand new staff. Very little of our film study has been on Michigan State. We watched them early to kind of study personnel matchups, but beyond that, we're watching Oregon State. We're watching Minnesota video, so it'll be interesting to see what new wrinkles each side of the ball has, knowing that the personnel is a bit different for them as well."
While betting is unpredictable and risky, it would be safe to assume that the Owls and Spartans will go hard at one another on Aug. 30 at 7 p.m.
Related: Michigan State QB Aidan Chiles Issues Confident Warning To Sports Bettors
Related: Head Coach Tom Herman Reveals Florida Atlantic's Starting Quarterback
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