Off to a 3-0 start for the first time in program history, Georgia State opens Sun Belt Conference play with a nationally-telelvised, Thursday night game at Coastal Carolina at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.

The Panthers improved to 3-0 with a 41-25 win at Charlotte behind record-setting performances by QB Darren Grainger and WR Robert Lewis.

Grainger completed 27 of 33 passes (82 percent) for 466 yards for the second-best single-game in program history, just five yards behind Nick Arbuckle's 2015 school record of 471 yards. He added 23 yards rushing for 489 yards of total offense, also No. 2 in GSU annals. Grainger rushed for one touchdown and threw three TD passes, including a 97-yard scoring pass to Robert Lewis for the longest play in GSU history. He also hit Tailique Williams for a 78-yard touchdown and connected with Lewis for a 38-yard TD and a 59-yard completion to the 1-yard line to set up another score.

Lewis broke the GSU single-game record with 220 receiving yards on just six catches. Williams added a career-high 129 yards on five receptions. Grainger's big day earned him Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second time in his career. He was also named to the Davey O'Brien Award's Great 8 List for Week 3 and a Manning Award Star of the Week. Grainger and Lewis were also tabbed to the PFF College Team of the Week.

Grainger leads the Sun Belt in total offense with 339.7 ypg (No. 8 in FBS) while completing 73 percent of his passes with six touchdowns. He also leads the Sun Belt in pass efficiency while ranking second in passing yards (267.7). The game at Coastal Carolina is a homecoming for Grainger, the Conway, S.C., native who led the Panthers to a 42-40 win at No. 21-ranked CCU in 2021 for the GSU program's first win over a ranked team. Lewis ranks No. 1 in FBS in all-purpose yards (170.0 pg), No. 7 in receiving yards (115.7) and No. 6 with four TD receptions. He leads the Panthers with 17 catches for 347 yards and four TDs. Lewis has caught 11 touchdown passes in his last 12 games.

RB Marcus Carroll is No. 3 in FBS in rushing with 119.3 yards per game and No. 1 with seven touchdowns. Carroll 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.

GSU's top offensive lineman is super senior left tackle Travis Glover, a Preseason First-Team All-Sun Belt selection who has 47 career starts. Linebacker Jontrey Hunter is the Panthers' leading tackler with 21 stops, two forced fumbles and two pass breakups.

Georgia State leads the Sun Belt and ranks No. 19 in FBS in rushing defense at 83.3 yards per game. The Panthers held UConn to 50 yards rushing on 31 attempts and Charlotte to 88 yards on 29 carries.

TURN, TURN, TURN

The Georgia State defense has forced seven turnovers in the first two games to rank No. 11 in FBS. That gives the Panthers 32 turnovers in the last 15 games.

Georgia State also ranked No. 11 in FBS in 2022 with a school-record 25 turnovers gained (13 interceptions, 12 fumble recoveries). Senior linebacker Jontrey Hunter has forced a fumble in each of the first two games to give him six in his career, tying the GSU record. CB Gavin Pringle, the grad transfer from Bucknell, leads GSU with two interceptions.

The Panthers grabbed a school-record four fumble recoveries last season at James Madison and returned two of them for touchdowns, also a first. Senior ILB Jordan Veneziale ranked third in FBS with three fumble recoveries in 2022. His five career fumble recoveries are tied for the GSU career lead. Senior DE Javon Denis returned a fumble 21 yards for a touchdown vs. James Madison, the second scoop-and-score of his career. He is the only player in GSU history with two fumble returns for scores, and just the third player in school history with two defensive touchdowns.

SERIES VS. COASTAL CAROLINA

The series between Georgia State and Coastal Carolina, which began in 2017, is tied at 3-3. The visiting team has won all six meetings, including Georgia State wins in 2017, 2019 and 2021. In 2021, the Panthers' 42-40 win at then No. 22/21 Coastal Carolina was GSU's first victory over a ranked team. Playing in his hometown of Conway, S.C., QB Darren Grainger, passed for 198 yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead 2-yard TD pass to Terrance Dixon with five minutes left. The Georgia State defense stopped Coastal's attempt at the game-tying 2-point conversion with 1:09 left and the Panthers recovered the ensuing onside kick.

GSU and Coastal are meeting on Thursday night for the second straight year. The Chanticleers won last year's game in Atlanta, 41-21. Georgia State defensive coordinator Chad Staggs is in his first season in Atlanta after serving the same role at Coastal Carolina, where he spent the last four seasons. CCU offensive coordinator Travis Trickett held the same position on Shawn Elliott's staff in 2017-18.

Georgia State has two players who joined the program this year after transferring from Coastal Carolina: linebacker Josiah Robinson and defensive end Corey Warren, transferred from Coastal Carolina.

MORE ON MARCUS

Marcus Carroll showed that he is ready to carry the load for the Georgia State rushing attack with 358 yards and seven touchdowns in the first three games. His career-high 184 yards vs. Rhode Island is the fourth-best single-game in GSU history.

In the first two games of 2023, Carroll rushed for 144 yards on 12 carries in the fourth quarter. Against URI, he rushed for 94 yards on just eight carries in the fourth quarter. After rallying to take a 35-28 lead, Georgia State faced 3rd-and-2 at their own 25 when Carroll broke through the line and raced 63 yards to down the 12, then finished the job on the next play with a 12-yard TD run for a 42-28 advantage with eight minutes left.

After topping the 1,000-yard mark against UConn, Carroll now ranks ninth in GSU history with 1,144 yards.