GEORGIA STATE (5-1, 2-1) at LOUISIANA (4-2, 1-1) 
Saturday, Oct. 21 | 8 p.m. ET | Cajun Field

TV: ESPNU
RADIO: Georgia State Radio Network on WRAS-FM 88.5 and GSU Athletics mobile app

THE KICKOFF: Off to the best start in program history at 5-1 (2-1 Sun Belt), Georgia State travels to Louisiana for another nationally-televised prime time game on ESPN2. Kickoff is at 8 p.m. at Cajun Field 

> The 8 p.m. telecast on ESPNU is the second of three straight nationally-televised, prime time games for the Panthers, who played on ESPN2 last week vs. Marshall and will do so again on Thursday, Oct. 26 at Georgia Southern. Georgia State's win at Coastal Carolina was on ESPN.

> Georgia State moved to 5-1 with a 41-24 win over Marshall in which Marcus Carroll rushed for 159 yards and Darren Grainger accounted for three touchdowns.

> OLB Kevin Swint led the GSU defense with two sacks, three tackles for loss and a forced fumble.

> After starting 4-0 for the first time ever, Georgia State achieved another milestone on Sept. 24 by receiving a vote in the US LBM Coaches' Poll, the Panthers' first-ever in either national poll.

> Marcus Carroll is No. 3 in FBS in rushing with 123.7 yards per game. His 10 touchdowns make him tied for fourth in rushing touchdowns and tied for eighth overall.

> Carroll's 159-yard game against Marshall is his third game this season with 150+ yards. He rushed for a career-high 184 yards and three touchdowns in the opener vs. Rhode Island and then followed with 107 yards and three more scores vs. UConn before his 150-yard effort against Coastal.

> QB Darren Grainger is second in the Sun Belt in total offense with 295.2 ypg (No. 20 in FBS) while completing 69 percent of his passes for 1,421 yards. He has eight touchdowns passing and five rushing.

> Grainger's top target is Robert Lewis, who leads the Panthers with 30 receptions for 536 yards and five touchdowns.

> Lewis is No. 3 in the Sun Belt in receiving yards per game (89.3 ypg, No. 23 FBS) and touchdown receptions (5).

> Lewis has caught 12 touchdown passes in his last 15 games. 

> GSU's top offensive lineman is super senior left tackle Travis Glover, a Preseason First-Team All-Sun Belt selection who has 51 career starts.

> Linebacker Jontrey Hunter is the Panthers' leading tackler with 39 stops, two forced fumbles and three pass breakups. CB Gavin Pringle leads GSU with two interceptions.

> Georgia State is second in the Sun Belt and No. 26 in FBS in rushing defense at 111.2 yards per game. The Panthers held UConn to 50 yards rushing on 31 attempts and Charlotte to 88 yards on 29 carries.

MARSHALL, MARSHALL, MARSHALL: True freshman Cam Marshall delivered a signature moment with his blocked punt against ... Marshall. 

> In a 7-7 game in the first quarter and the Thundering Herd punting from their own 17-yard line, Marshall broke through and blocked the punt. Redshirt freshman Izaiah Guy scooped it up for a 4-yard touchdown to give Georgia State the lead for good.

> Marshall's blocked punt is the first for Georgia State in 10 years (Demarius Matthews vs. Troy, 2013) and it led to the Panthers' first special teams touchdown of any kind since 2018.

RECORD WATCH: Quarterback Darren Grainger needs just 244 yards of total offense (passing and rushing yards) to become Georgia State's career leader. Grainger has 7,323 yards, trailing Nick Arbuckle (7,566, 2014-15).

MORE ON MARCUS: Marcus Carroll ranks No. 3 in FBS in rushing and No. 4 in rushing touchdowns.

> Carroll has four of the Top 10 single-game performances in program history, all in his last 10 games (184 vs. URI/2023; 164 vs. USM/2022; 159 vs. Marshall/2023; 150 vs. CCU/2023).

> His career-high 184 yards vs. Rhode Island is the fourth-best single-game in GSU history.

> Carroll topped the 1,500-yard mark against Marshall and now ranks sixth in GSU history with 1,528 yards. His 19 career rushing touchdowns rank second.

SERIES VS. LOUISIANA: Georgia State is looking for its first win in the series, which Louisiana leads 6-0, including 3-0 in Lafayette.

> The last two games have gone down to the wire, including an overtime contest in 2020, and four of the last five meetings have been one-score games.

> The teams last met in 2021 in a Thursday night game at Cajun Field. Georgia State took a 17-14 lead on Tucker Gregg's 1-yard touchdown run with 5:25 to play, but No. 24 Louisiana won 21-17 on Montrell Johnson's 13-yard scoring run with 2:32 left. 

> In 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia State scored the tying touchdown with 7:37 to play, knotting the score at 28-all, and then the GSU defense came up with a huge stop to force overtime. After the Panthers kicked a field goal in the first OT, Louisiana won 34-31 on Elijah Mitchell's touchdown run.

IT'S ACADEMIC: Long-snapper Seth Glausier is a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy® for the second straight year. The award recognizes an individual as the absolute best in the country for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership.

> A senior from Jefferson, Ga., Glausier is a two-time CSC Academic All-District (2020-21 and 2021-22) selection. He has been recognized on the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner's List and the Georgia State University President's List (semester GPA of 4.0).

RECOGNITION FOR ROBERT:  Robert Lewis, Georgia State's leading receiver, was added to the Watch list for the 2023 Biletnikoff Award, which annually recognizes the college football season's outstanding FBS receiver. 

> The junior wide receiver from Covington, Ga., and Newton High School, leads the Panthers with 30 receptions for 536 yards and five touchdowns.

> Lewis joins the ranks of outstanding GSU receivers who have been recognized on this list such as Robert Davis, Donovan Harden and Penny Hart.