WEEK 4 SCHEDULE
Thursday, Sept. 21
Georgia State at Coastal Carolina 6:30 p.m. ESPN
Saturday, Sept. 23
Virginia Tech at Marshall 11:00 a.m. ESPN2
Western Kentucky at Troy 11:00 a.m. ESPNU
Georgia Southern at Ball State 1:00 p.m. ESPN+
Texas A&M Commerce at Old Dominion 2:30 p.m. ESPN+
Central Michigan at South Alabama 4:00 p.m. ESPN+
App State at Wyoming 6:00 p.m. CBSSN
Southern Miss at Arkansas State 6:00 p.m. ESPN+
Nevada at Texas State 6:00 p.m. ESPN+
Buffalo at Louisiana 6:30 p.m. ESPN+
James Madison at Utah State 7:00 p.m. MW Network
All Times CT
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
UNDER THE LIGHTS
Georgia State at Coastal Carolina will kick off this season’s Sun Belt Thursday night appearances at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN. The Panthers are off to the first 3-0 start in program history, while the Chanticleers are 2-1 entering their conference-opener. The matchup will feature two of the top quarterbacks in the Sun Belt— and in the country. Redshirt senior Darren Grainger of Georgia State is coming off a Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week outing and ranks eighth in the nation, averaging 339.7 yards of total offense per game this season. Redshirt senior Grayson McCall of Coastal Carolina—a three-time Sun Belt Player of the Year—needs just one touchdown pass in Thursday’s contest to enter the Top 100 all-time in NCAA career passing touchdowns. The game will be a homecoming contest for Conway, S.C., native Grainger, as the visiting Panthers attempt to keep the road team’s six-game winning streak alive in the series. The home team has never proven victorious in six prior matchups, which has been split evenly 3-3 by Georgia State and Coastal Carolina.
DON’T CALL IT AN UPSET
The Sun Belt owns victories over autonomy five foes in three-straight weeks to open the 2023 campaign with Texas State defeating Baylor 42-31 in Week 1, James Madison besting Virginia 36-35 in Week 2 and South Alabama outpacing Oklahoma State 33-7 in Week 3. Marshall will attempt to make it four-straight weeks when it hosts Virginia Tech at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23, on ESPN2. The Thundering Herd enter the game 2-0, as part of a non-autonomy leading trio of undefeated teams remaining in the Sun Belt. Marshall also carries a seven-game winning streak into the contest—the seventh-longest active winning streak in the nation.
DOUBLE FEATURE
The Sun Belt will also own the 11 a.m. window on ESPNU, as Troy welcomes Western Kentucky to Veterans Memorial Stadium, where it owns a .689 winning percentage (62-28) since 2007. The Trojans also lead the all-time series with the Hilltoppers 10-2-1, including a 34-27 victory a year ago. Troy, which finished 12-2 a year ago, will aim to rebound from back-to-back losses for the first time since the 2021 campaign. Establishing the running game will be key to that effort, as the Trojans boast a 17-3 mark when junior running back Kimani Vidal rushes for 50-or-more yards and a 7-1 record when he reaches the 100-yard plateau.
GONE WEST
After zero games against the Mountain West through Week 3 of the 2023 campaign and just one regular-season head-to-head meeting a year ago, the Sun Belt will take on three Mountain West opponents in Week 4 alone. The Saturday slate includes App State at Wyoming at 6 p.m. on CBS Sports Network, Nevada at Texas State at 6 p.m. on ESPN+ and James Madison at Utah State at 7 p.m. on the Mountain West Network. App State (1-1 vs. Wyoming) and Texas State (0-2 vs. Nevada) will be playing the third installment against their respective foes, while James Madison will play Utah State for the first time and in the state of Utah for the second time in program history. App State won the most recent matchup with Wyoming, 31-13 in Boone in 2015, while Texas State fell the Nevada 38-14 in Reno in the 2022 season-opener. The Mountaineers will be one of the better-equipped teams to go into Wyoming’s Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium—the highest elevation for an FBS stadium at 7,220 feet. At 3,333 feet above sea level, App State’s Kidd Brewer Stadium is the highest in the Eastern or Central time zones and the 12thhighest at the FBS level.
UNDER THE SUN
Southern Miss will visit Arkansas State at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23, on ESPN+ as each team steps under the sun in conference play. Each enters the contest at 1-2 on the year and is searching for its first victory over an FBS opponent this season. The Golden Eagles fell to Florida State and Tulane, while Arkansas State was outpaced by Oklahoma and Memphis. Southern Miss owns a 10-2 lead in the all-time series, but needed 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to secure a come-from-behind 20-19 win over the Red Wolves a season ago.
