Michigan State’s quarterback Tyler O’Connor is hating today. O’Connor and the Spartans face Furman at 6 p.m. EST tonight on BTN and once the game begins, then the signal caller may stop hating his day.

“I hate the day leading up to it,” said O’Connor earlier this week, via Dun Murphy of ESPN. “Fridays are tough because usually we can watch football all day when it’s a Saturday night game. Friday, I don’t know. I guess I’ll just hang out and watch as much as possible.”

O’Connor shouldn’t be crazily concerned prior to the game, as the former Big Ten champions are going against an FCS-level program. Despite the talent advantage, there will still be ups and downs throughout any game, whether it’s against Furman or against Ohio State.

“My message to him is: Be yourself,” Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio said. “Understand there’s going to be criticism and just if you make a mistake, go at it 100 percent and bounce back from it. It’s tough being a quarterback at any level, especially at this level in football, because you get a lot of criticism. Much of it, you know, [from] people that don’t understand the nuances of what he’s going through. So he’s got to roll with it a little bit, but he’ll be fine.”

O’Connor then talked about a conversation he had earlier in the week with Dantonio.

“We talked about how exciting it was, but at the same time you have to be ready for the tough times,” O’Connor said. “It’s not going to be all pretty and everything isn’t always going to be positive like it has been over the past few weeks necessarily. I know that comes with the position. I’m ready to accept all the pressures, all the failure and successes, whether it’s good or bad.”

As long as O’Connor stays level-headed, the Spartans will have a chance to repeat as Big Ten champs, despite a lack of confidence from the Associated Press. According to the AP’s first poll, the Spartans rank No. 12 in the country while Ohio State and Michigan sit at No. 6 and No. 7, respectively.

Murphy’s entire article can be read here.