He’s already seen off Florida State this season, but new Boston College coach Bill O’Brien has Missouri football at the top of the pile.

“I mean, it's the best team we've played. No question about it,” O’Brien told local media Tuesday in Chestnut Hill, Mass. “Probably the best team we played, BC-wise, in a couple years, to be honest with you. So, yeah, this can be a big challenge.”

No. 6/8-ranked Mizzou and No. 24/NR Boston College are set to face off Saturday morning in Columbia, setting up the first nonconference game at Memorial Stadium where both teams are ranked in the AP Top 25 since a 1980 game vs. Penn State.

Here is what Boston College’s coach and players told reporters ahead of the Missouri matchup:

More: 3 under-the-radar standouts from Missouri football’s shutout start to season

Missouri football’s Luther Burden III, receivers demanding attention

O’Brien, who was part of coach Bill Belichick’s staff with the New England Patriots and spent nearly seven seasons as the head coach of the Houston Texans, holds Mizzou’s pass-catchers in high regard.

“Very, very good at wide receiver. I'd say at least three or four of their wide receivers will play in the NFL,” O’Brien said. “So we’ve got a big challenge ahead of us.”

We’ll leave it up to you to guess who he’s referencing.

One of them, without a question, is star slot receiver Luther Burden III, who got brought up a couple times over the course of the Eagles’ media availability Tuesday.

Burden hasn’t put up the gaudy numbers we’re used to with just 64 receiving yards through two games, impacted partly by leaving the matchup against Buffalo with an illness in the first half. Still, he’s found the end zone twice between his seven receptions and two carries so far this season.

“He's definitely a great player. He's a good player. It's a good matchup to go against, but at the end of the day, it's a faceless opponent,” BC safety KP Price said. “We’re looking — obviously we’re studying him. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to win our one-on-ones. We’ve got to line up how we do, no matter if it's Luther Burden or anybody that we're going to go against (for) the rest of the season.”

Away from the receivers, O’Brien was complimentary of pretty much every part of the Mizzou offense, noting quarterback Brady Cook’s ability as a passer and a runner, praising the Tigers’ thus-far dynamic running back tandem of Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll, and giving props to the Tigers’ offensive line.

More: Missouri football's Eli Drinkwitz provides availability update on Luther Burden, other starters

On facing Missouri’s clean defense

For the first time since 1935, Missouri’s defense has posted two shutouts in succession. The Tigers kept both Murray State and Buffalo off the board.

But Boston College is a step up in talent for the Tigers under first-year defensive coordinator Corey Batoon, with BC's dual-threat quarterback Thomas Castellanos an ever-present threat, especially on the ground, and a run game that gave Florida State all sorts of problems in Week 1.

“(Missouri has) got tough guys up front. Their secondary is physical,” Boston College wide receiver Lewis Bond said. “We’ve just got to bring it. Like, if we do what we're supposed to do, everything will handle itself.”

The Eagles are among the nation’s better rushing teams at the early stage of this season, as their 282.5 yards per game on the ground ranks No. 9 among FBS teams.

Mizzou, although it hasn’t faced an offense of BC’s caliber yet, is the national leader in total defense, allowing 127 yards per game through Week 2.

Something will have to break.

“They're an aggressive defense,” O’Brien said. “They can run. They swarm to the ball. Their (defensive backs) are very, very physical; good cover players (and) play a lot of man coverage. So, you know, we’ve got to be ready.”

Is Missouri a measuring stick for BC?

After just two games under its new head coach, Boston College is ranked for the first time since 2018.

O’Brien and the players said what you’d expect from any team representative in the early stages of the year: The only ranking that matters is the one at the end of the season.

But the coach does see this matchup as a progress-check of sorts early on in his tenure.

“We've got a Southeastern Conference team that's ranked (sixth) in the country. I mean, they're a really good football team. Eli (Drinkwitz) has done a great job with that program. They're ahead of us as a program, you know? So, let's see. It's a pretty good measuring stick early in the season of our first season. So, we'll see how it goes.”

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: What Boston College coach Bill O'Brien said about Missouri football