The 2016 Clemson football schedule poses some unique matchups, like Clemson’s first time playing Pittsburgh in the regular season and a Thursday night game against Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

The coming season also brings the unique challenge and thrill of playing on a Friday night at Boston College. In fact, no player on Clemson’s current roster has played a college game on a Friday night as a Tiger.

For the opponent, it’s a different story. The Eagles have played under the Friday night lights for the past three seasons, and running back Myles Willis says it adds to the excitement of the game.

“Friday night adds an extra element. Everyone grew up playing high school football on Friday nights, Friday Night Lights is my favorite movie, so it is just an awesome experience,” Willis said. “The buildup just makes it where it is like alright I am ready to play the game. You go from nerves to no nerves but by the time it is game time, you are just ready to go out there and just let it all out.”

Linebacker Matt Milano agrees that playing on a Friday adds another degree of excitement due to the amount of people that will tune in to watch the game on ESPN.

“There’s some hype around it. Everyone is going to be watching it. I think it definitely makes people play better. Their friends are watching, their families are watching so it should be good,” Milano said.

Milano added that playing Clemson adds to the excitement even more than playing on a Friday night.

“It will definitely be packed. My sophomore year we played Clemson and it was wild as well. It came down to the last play in the end zone so we are expecting similar results,” Milano said.

For Willis, the matchup is a little more personal. The Georgia native has close ties to Clemson and always enjoys having the opportunity to play against the Tigers.

“I have friends at Clemson. I grew up with Ryan Carter. We played on the same youth league team. Even with Wayne Gallman coming from Grayson, I watched him a lot. We usually talk after games. Clemson, that is almost a home game for me, so I always kind of play that extra mile for them because that’s right there,” Willis said.

But with the level of talent that Clemson returns, both Willis and Milano know that the competition will be tough. When asked about Deshaun Watson, Milano took a deep breath before praising the athletic prowess of the Heisman Trophy candidate.

“He is just an unbelievable athlete. He puts the ball right where it needs to be. If you are right on the receiver, he will just throw it right where your hand can’t reach. I think he is just incredible,” Milano said. “I always want to play against the best competition. To be able to compete with the best is just something special.”

Willis is expecting a difficult battle from one of the nation’s top-ranked teams, but he hopes regaining the home field advantage might give Boston College some added energy.

“We’ve always had them and every time we play them, it has always been a tough game. It is good to get them at a home game at our site. We’ll just put our head down, fight and see how the chips fall,” he said.