GEORGIA STATE (6-2, 3-2) vs. #23/24 JAMES MADISON (8-0, 5-0)
Saturday, Nov. 4 | 3:30 p.m. | Center Parc Stadium

TV: ESPN2
RADIO: Georgia State Radio Network on WRAS-FM 88.5, GSU athletics mobile app

THE KICKOFF: Georgia State hosts undefeated and No. 23-ranked James Madison Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Center Parc Stadium before a national television audience on ESPN2.

> Playing just its 14th season of football and 10th at the FBS level, Georgia State (6-2, 3-2 Sun Belt) is eligible for its sixth bowl game and fifth in seven seasons under head coach Shawn Elliott. 

> The Panthers' 6-2 record equals the best eight-game start in program history. The 2019 squad also started 6-2. 

> James Madison will be the third nationally-ranked team to play at Center Parc Stadium, following App State in 2019 and Coastal Carolina in 2020. Georgia State's last game against a ranked team was the Panthers' 2021 victory at No. 22/21 Coastal Carolina, 42-40.

> The telecast on ESPN2 is the fourth straight nationally-televised game and fifth of the season for the Panthers. However, this will be Georgia State's first day game of the season after eight straight prime time games.

> RB Marcus Carroll rushed for a career-high 208 yards vs. Georgia Southern, the second-best single-game total in school history.

> That performance also put Carroll over 1,000 yards for the season, just the second 1,000-yard rusher in program history.

> Named to the Midseason All-America team by College Football Network (CFN), Carroll is No. 2 in FBS in rushing with 1,060 yards (132.5 ypg). He is No. 4 in all-purpose with 150.8 ypg, and his 12 touchdowns make him No. 4 in rushing touchdowns and No. 6 in total TDs.

> QB Darren Grainger averages 279.6 yards of total offense per game. He is completing 67 percent of his passes (second in Sun Belt) for 1,789 yards while rushing for 448 yards. He has 12 touchdowns passing and five rushing.

> Grainger's top targets are Robert Lewis, who leads the Panthers with 46 receptions for 658 yards and six touchdowns, and Tailique Williams with 29 catches for 482 yards and three scores.

> Lewis broke the GSU single-game record with 12 receptions vs. Georgia Southern. Earlier this season he set the single-game yardage record with 220 yards vs. Charlotte. 

> GSU's top offensive lineman is super senior left tackle Travis Glover, a Preseason First-Team All-Sun Belt selection who has 53 career starts.

> Linebacker Jontrey Hunter is the Panthers' leading tackler with 65 stops, 5.5 TFL, two forced fumbles and three pass breakups. CB Gavin Pringle leads GSU with three interceptions, and OLB Kevin Swint tops the team with four sacks and seven TFL.

> After starting 4-0 for the first time, 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.

RECORD WATCH: Quarterback Darren Grainger needs just 15 yards of total offense (passing and rushing yards) to become Georgia State's career leader. Grainger has 7,552 yards, trailing Nick Arbuckle (7,566, 2014-15). 

> Grainger has accounted for 63 touchdowns rushing and passing in a GSU uniform, breaking Arbuckle's record of 59.

> With 5,947 yards passing and 49 TD passes, Grainger ranks second to Arbuckle (7,651 yards, 51 TD passes) in both categories. 

PRINGLE'S BIG PLAYS: In his first season at GSU, cornerback Gavin Pringle has made two pivotal plays to help win games.

> Pringle made the play of the season thus far with his game-saving interception in the end zone to preserve the Panthers' 20-17 win at Louisiana. With Georgia State holding a three-point lead, Louisiana faced 3rd-and-4 at the GSU 7-yard line with 30 seconds left when Pringle grabbed the interception in the end zone to seal the win.

>  In his Georgia State debut, Pringle delivered a 21-yard interception return for a touchdown in the season-opening win over Rhode Island. GSU had just tied the game at 28-all late in the third quarter, and Pringle's big play gave the Panthers a 35-28 lead they would not relinquish.

> Pringle, who also had an interception at the 3-yard line at Charlotte, leads Georgia State with three picks.

> The Baltimore, Md., native joined the GSU program in June as a graduate transfer from Bucknell, where he was a three-time all-conference selection in the Patriot League.

MORE ON MARCUS: Marcus Carroll has five of the Top 10 single-game performances in program history, all in his last 12 games (208 vs. Georgia Southern/2023; 184 vs. URI/2023; 164 vs. USM/2022; 159 vs. Marshall/2023; 150 vs. CCU/2023).

> His career-high 208 yards vs. Georgia Southern is the second-best single-game in GSU history, while his 184 yards vs. Rhode Island now ranks fifth.

> Over his last 12 games, Carroll has rushed for 1,389 yards and 17 touchdowns.

> With 1,060 yards in 2023, Carroll has the second-best season in school history (record is 1,453 yards by Tra Barnett in 2019). His 12 touchdowns are tied for the GSU season record.

> Carroll is now the No. 3 rusher in GSU history with 1,846 career yards, trailing only Tucker Gregg (2,265) and Tra Barnett (2,156). His 21 career rushing touchdowns rank second.

SERIES VS. JAMES MADISON: James Madison has won the only two meetings, both in Harrisonburg.

> Last season, Marcus Carroll's touchdown run with 2:30 left pulled Georgia State within two points, but the try for the tying 2-point conversion was unsuccessful as the Panthers fell 42-40.

> Georgia State grabbed a school-record four fumble recoveries and returned two of them for touchdowns, also a first. Javon Denis and Terrell Gordon had the scoop-and-scores.

> The first meeting came in 2012, when both schools were members of the Colonial Athletic Association at the FBS level. James Madison won 28-21 in Harrisonburg.

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.