This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The BYU football team arrived in Big Ten territory on Thursday, and has already gotten two good looks at Spartan Stadium, where it will take on Michigan State on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EDT, or 1:30 p.m. in Utah.

The Cougars visited the 75,000-seat stadium on Thursday night, and again on Friday at about the same time they will be playing Saturday.

"So we are going a day early this year, which I think helps a little bit, especially if we play the early afternoon games," BYU receiver Colby Pearson said Monday. "I don't think it effects us too much. We just go and try to do our thing."

I flew into Detroit on Friday morning, and rushed out to the Detroit Lions practice facility in hopes of catching one of the former Cougars — Kyle Van Noy or Ziggy Ansah — before media availability was over for the day. I missed them by about 5 minutes.

By the way, there were dozens of BYU fans on my flight, all decked out in BYU t-shirts, ball caps, jackets, etc.

I reported this morning that BYU was allotted 3,600 tickets to sell through its website for the game. BYU's Duff Tittle told me today that the school sold around 2,000 of those tickets, so there should be a pretty strong contingent of blue-clad fans amidst the sea of green in East Lansing on Saturday.

It almost got to 80 degrees in Detroit today, unbelievably. I should have worn shorts. It will cool off in Michigan tomorrow, they say, with highs in East Lansing expected to hover at 58 degrees. It will also be a bit breezy.

I've tried to read as much as possible about the matchup in the newspapers that cover Michigan State — mainly the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press — and generally haven't found many comments about BYU from the Spartan players, just stuff from coach Mark Dantonio's press conference Tuesday about Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams.

Seems like Michigan State has more issues to deal with now than Saturday's opponent, which is understandable. Are the Spartans overlooking the Cougars? Tough to say.

Certainly, BYU looks at this game as one of the most important on its schedule, behind probably only the local schools/rivals: Utah, Boise State and Utah State. It is a huge opportunity for the Cougars to make a splash nationally, although MSU's 2-2 record and two straight losses will surely take away from the impressiveness of a win if the Cougars can pull it off.

I just thumbed through three days worth of interviews, and pulled out some of the Cougars' comments about Michigan State.

Here they are:

Kalani Sitake on what Michigan State brings to the table:

"A great program. Big, physical strong guys. Coach [Mark] D'Antonio is a great coach. The last three years, they have won a bunch of games. I want to say they are 36-5 or something like that. I can't remember. I was reading it somewhere.

They win Big Ten championships, and they were in the national playoffs last year. They got a great team."

Defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki on MSU's offense:

"I think they are a lot like our offense: multiple personnel, multiple shifts and motions. There is a lot that they do. It will be a challenge. Big offensive linemen, big running back, and pretty good quarterback. … Everyone knows Big Ten football is powerful football, and so it will be exciting and a good challenge for our D linemen to go in there and play them. I think every week, everybody has got big O linemen, and fast receivers and a good quarterback…. Schematically they are not like any team that we have faced yet. They are probably closer to UCLA, but they do more. There are little intricate runs that are annoying to have to deal with. It just puts a little bit more on you as a D line."

Junior safety Micah Hannemann on what he expects from MSU's offense:

"So traditionally they want to run it. Then if they can't run it, they will pass it. But after seeing what Toledo did, I can imagine they for sure have some plays where they are going to test us. And I am excited because we get to redeem ourselves. And I am glad we are playing Michigan State because not only do we get to redeem ourselves for the last game, but the other games that we've lost. This is a chance to turn the season around, which would be awesome."

Tight end Tanner Balderree, who grew up in Detroit and was a Michigan fan, on MSU's defense:

"It is a pro style defense. They are very physical, big guys. So we are going to have to bring the physicality along with it. They are not a pushover team. Toledo relied a lot on speed and slants. This team is very confident in their team size and strength. So they will line up and push you and try to bull you and make plays with that. So we have to be prepared for that, be just as strong. Our training staff the whole year has helped us get to that strength, so I feel like we can match that and be just as physical as Michigan State and bring what we need to win."

Cornerback Dayan Lake on Michigan State's offense:

"They are a good team. They are going to focus more on running and stuff, but also since they don't think our DBs can cover them, of course they are going to pass, too.. I feel like if we stop the run, they are going to have to go into spread, because they are more like a pro offense, like our offense, a pro offense. But if we stop their run, it will be easier to stop their pass, too. And they are going to have to go into passing. That means we have to step up, of course.

They are a good offense, but I feel like we match up pretty good with them, with their offense. We play against that every day with our offense, too. I feel like it is going to be a good game."

BYU QB Taysom Hill on what stands out about MSU:

"They are not any bigger than guys we have faced in the past. But they play really hard. They are tall, long guys, so they like to stay away from your body and use their arms and length that way. But they play hard, so it will be a good challenge for us. We certainly have a lot of respect for that program, and what they have done historically. But we are up for the challenge. We are excited for the opportunity."