Coastal Carolina vs. Georgia State: How To Watch & Preview

Date/Time: Thursday, September 21, 7:30 PM EDT

TV: ESPN

Radio: WRNN 99.5 FM Conway/ WRAS 88.5 FM Atlanta

Location: Conway, South Carolina – Brooks Stadium

Betting Line: Coastal Carolina -6.5

All-Time Series Record: Tied at 3-3 (last meeting won by CCU 41-24)

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Georgia State

In Georgia State’s 14-year history, they’re off to an 3-0 start for the first time and it feels as if this could be the breakout season that Panthers’ fans have envisioned since they decided to have football at the downtown Atlanta university.

Shawn Elliott’s club opens Sun Belt Conference play with a nationally televised, Thursday night game at Coastal Carolina after nothing their third win 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 and Thursday’s game is a homecoming for Grainger, who is a Conway, South Carolina native.

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 in the early going of the season.

Coastal Carolina

The Chanticleers’ offense exploded for a season-high 515 yards in the win over Duquesne, led by standout quarterback Grayson McCall. The veteran signal-caller enters Thursday’s action with 8,794 yards passing, needing just 1,206 yards to become the 143rd player in NCAA history to pass for 10,000 career yards.

Since becoming the starter in his redshirt freshman season in 2020, McCall is 29-6 overall as a starter and in contests against Sun Belt Conference opponents, including the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Championship game at Troy, McCall is 17-3 overall – providing good reason for Coastal’s near touchdown edge entering the contest.

On defense, keep an eye on Illinois State transfer safety Clayton Isbell, who worked his way into the starting lineup and did not disappoint in his first game in a Chanticleer uniform – recording nine tackles three interceptions, which tied a program record. As a whole, the Coastal defense added three more interceptions in Saturday’s defeat of Duquesne and now has a Sun Belt Conference-leading six on the season.