GEORGIA STATE (3-2, 2-0) vs. TROY (4-2, 1-1)
Saturday, Oct. 21, 2 p.m. ET, “Pete” Petit Field at Georgia State Stadium
#HomeATLast AFTER THREE STRAIGHT ROAD WINS: Riding a three-game winning streak, Georgia State (3-2, 2-0 Sun Belt) finally returns home to Georgia State Stadium to host Troy (4-2, 1-1) for Homecoming Saturday at 2 p.m.
TV: ESPN3. Announcers are Matt Stewart and Wayne Gandy.
RADIO: Georgia State Radio Network, including Atlanta flagship 1340 AM/103.7 FM as well as WRAS-FM 88.5. Dave Cohen is in his 35th season as the play-by-play voice of Panther athletics. Brandon Leak and Harper LeBel join him from the booth with Sam Crenshaw on the sideline. Free audio stream on GeorgiaStateSports.com and GSU mobile app.
> Georgia State won its third straight game, all on the road, with a 47-37 victory at ULM, which was off to a 3-0 start in Sun Belt play.
> The Panthers now sit atop the Sun Belt Conference standings as one of three undefeated teams in the league, along with Appalachian State (3-0) and Arkansas State (2-0).
> Troy is coming off a 19-8 loss to South Alabama last Wednesday, but the Trojans made news with their 24-21 upset at LSU.
> Georgia State will play in its new stadium for the first time since its Aug. 31 inaugural game, going 51 days between home games. Since then, the Panthers have played four straight road games, sandwiched around the Memphis cancellation.
> Penny Hart leads the Sun Belt with 8.4 receptions per game (4th in FBS) 111.0 receiving yards per game (7th in FBS).
> Conner Manning is averaging 252.2 yards passing per game with six touchdowns. He leads the Sun Belt and ranks seventh in FBS in completion percentage at 67.6 percent.
> Georgia State is 3-4 in Homecoming games, including a 31-6 victory over UT Martin last season.
A RECORD FOR RECORDS: The Panthers enjoyed the most prolific offensive day in GSU history and also reached milestones on defense and special teams in the 47-37 win at ULM:
> School-record 670 yards of total offense and 47 points, the most ever for GSU against an FBS opponent.
> Conner Manning completed 26 of 35 passes for 446 yards, the second-highest single-game total in GSU history and the most for any Sun Belt quarterback this season. His four touchdown passes tied the GSU record. He was named a Manning Award Star of the Week, a Davey O’Brien Award “Great 8” and a nominee for FBS Football HERO of the Week.
> With his third straight 100-yard game, Penny Hart set the Georgia State record with 190 yards receiving and tied his own school record with 11 catches. He caught touchdowns of 50, 25 and 22 yards. He was named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week.
> The Georgia State defense set a school record with seven sacks.
> Defensive end Marterious Allen collected three sacks to tie the GSU single-game record. He also recovered a fumble and was named Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week.
> Michael Shaw had 1.5 sacks in the game. That gives him 22.5 career tackles behind the line of scrimmage, making him Georgia State’s career leader.
> Sophomore Devin Gentry had his best day as a Panther with his first two career touchdowns, one through the air and one on the ground. First he took a short pass from Conner Manning and turned it into a 69-yard touchdown for the Panthers’ longest pass play of the season. Then on a reverse, he took a flip from Taz Bateman and raced around the left end and down the sideline for a 15-yard rushing touchdown.
> Sophomore Brandon Wright kicked a career-long 46-yard field goal and nailed a 71-yard punt that was downed at the 8-yard line for the third-longest punt in GSU history.
> Georgia State rushed for 224 yards, the fifth-best rushing effort in school history and best since 2012.
> Senior Kyler Neal led the Panthers with 65 yards rushing as he topped the 1,000-yard mark for his career.
> The Panthers sealed the victory with a fourth-quarter touchdown drive that covered 15 plays and 95 yards while eating up nearly eight minutes on the clock.
MORE ON THE STREAK: In consecutive road victories at Charlotte (28-0), Coastal Carolina (27-21) and ULM (47-37):
> GSU offense is averaging 34 points and 469.3 yards per game with just one turnover in three games.
> Defense is allowing 19.3 points per game.
> QB Conner Manning is averaging 323 yards per game and completing 69 percent of his passes with six touchdowns.
> WR Penny Hart is averaging 10 catches and 154.3 yards with five touchdowns.
THE SERIES VS. TROY:
> Troy holds a 3-1 lead in the series, which began in 2013.
> The last two meetings have been decided by the same 31-21 score in favor of the home team, Georgia State in 2015 and Troy last season.
> Last season at Troy, GSU took a 14-6 lead midway through the third quarter before the Trojans scored three straight touchdowns. Conner Manning passed for 381 yards, including TD passes to Todd Boyd (9-122), Robert Davis and Ari Werts.
> In the Panthers’ 2015 victory, Glenn Smith rushed for 87 yards, his high until this year’s win at Charlotte. GSU piled up 519 yards of offense while holding Troy to 374 yards, including just 81 yards on the ground.
