ATLANTA -- Continuing the best start in program history, Georgia State used a 240-yard performance on the ground, including 159 yards from Marcus Carroll, to knock off Marshall 41-24 on Homecoming Saturday night at Center Parc Stadium, improving to 5-1 overall, 2-1 in Sun Belt Conference play.

Darren Grainger passed for 234 yards and one touchdown without throwing an interception and rushed for 62 yards and two touchdowns. With those three scores, Grainger tied the school record for touchdown responsibility; he now has 59 touchdowns passing and rushing, matching Nick Arbuckle's mark.

"I'm very, very proud of our football team," head coach Shawn Elliott said. "I talk about this all time, but our players are incredible. I wake up every single day thanking the Lord that I get to go be with them.

"It's just awesome to be around these guys. They fight, they push through adversity and they come out with their heads held high. It doesn't seem like anything affects us, like it did a year ago.

"That's a really good football team, a talented football team. We just came out and did an awesome job," Elliott continued.

Carroll paced the Panthers rushing attack by accumulating 159 yards and scoring his 10th touchdown of the season. He notched his sixth 100-yard game while achieving the seventh-best single-game total in program history and third best of his career. Carroll gained 97 yards in the second half, including 68 in the fourth quarter.

Tailique Williams pulled in six catches for 129 yards, tying his career high for receiving yards, highlighted by a 74-yard touchdown catch.

Kevin Swint led the Georgia State defensive effort with six tackles, 3.0 TFL, two sacks, and one forced fumble. Javon Denis added a sack, and Henry Bryant had a fumble recovery.

Georgia State also got a big play from its special teams as true freshman Cam Marshall blocked deep in Marshall territory, and redshirt freshman Izaiah Guy picked up the ball and scored from four yards out. That is Georgia State's first blocked punt since 2013 (DeMarius Matthews vs. Troy) and first special teams touchdown since 2018.

"The blocked punt was a great call by our special teams coordinator Arketa Banks," Elliott said.

How It Happened
Georgia State jumped in front with a touchdown on the opening drive as Grainger led the Panthers down the field and then capped the drive with a 24-yard scoring run.

After Marshall answered with a touchdown on its first drive, Georgia State took the lead for good on Izaiah Guy's touchdown return of Cam Marshall's blocked punt. Liam Rickman added a 34-yard field to give the Panthers a 17-7 lead early in the second quarter.

Rickman's second field goal put the Panthers up 20-10 with 5:15 left in the half, and then Grainger connected with Williams for a 74-yard touchdown pass. Williams took a short pass over the middle and turned up field, racing down the right sideline for the score and a 27-10 lead with 1:19 to play in the first half.

Marshall managed a touchdown in the final seconds of the half to make it 27-10, and that remained the score until the Thundering Herd scored on the final play of the third quarter as Rashaan Ali made a spectacular catch on a tipped ball between two defenders and ran for the 65-yard score, bringing Marshall within 27-24.

But Georgia State responded on its next possession, which was kept alive by a roughing the punter penalty. After that, the Panthers moved down the field, and Grainger rushed for his second touchdown of the day from two yards out, extending the lead to 34-24 with 11 minutes left.

Carroll's 2-yard touchdown run capped the scoring with 1:42 to play.

Game Notes
» Georgia State outgained Marshall 474-457, including a 240-156 advantage on the ground.
» The Panthers scored first with 13:03 remaining in the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the game on their way to victory.
» Georgia State converted 7 of 15 third downs while Marshall was successful on 4 of 11.
» Jontrey Hunter had a game-high eight tackles.
» The Panthers collected 10 tackles for loss and added three sacks, including two by Kevin Swint
» Georgia State won the time of possession battle 35:17 to 24:43.
» The Panthers ended the game on a high note, scoring 14 unanswered points to close out the contest.
» Grainger completed 67.7% of his passes on the day, going 21-for-31 while averaging 7.5 yards per attempt.
» Cam Fancher led the Thundering Herd (4-2, 1-1 Sun Belt) passing attack, completing 27 of his 34 attempts for 301 yards and one touchdown.
» Rasheen Ali led the Marshall rushing attack with 103 yards and two touchdowns.