The Clark Atlanta University Panthers football team heads into the meat of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference East schedule today when they visit Albany State at 7 p.m.

The game will be broadcast live on the ESPN+ app.

After opening the season with a rousing win over Livingstone, the Panthers (1-2) have had tough losses at home to Lane and Shorter.   They now head to Albany to take on a Rams squad that is 2-1, with their only loss coming last week to Valdosta State, the nation's third ranked team.

"We've got to get some guys to step up this week.  We're going to play a really good Albany State football team," said CAU head coach Tim Bowens. "Coming off two games where we didn't get the W, the guys are obviously in the hunt and hungry."

Defensively, Albany State is ranked 10^th nationally, giving up just 11 points per game.  They give up just 259 yards of offense per game and have allowed no rushing touchdowns. They has six sacks in three games and have picked off five passes so far this season.  Stephan Pierre leads ASU in tackles, while Coemba Jones has 18 tackles and a sack, with Brandarious Rawlings contributing 16 stops, three for losses.

"They are a very stingy defense," Bowens said.  "They play very fast.  They've got some continuity.  So, they've got some guys who've played in their system for sometime now.  "It's a tremendous challenge there for us," he said.  "We have to make sure we do our job and do it to the best of our ability, but also build on the strength of the guys what we have, to try to get the ball out there to the guys on the perimeter and try to get our young backs going as well."

The CAU offense started slowly in their last two games, but quarterback Shariif Brown has provided a lift for  the Panther offense.  Brown is 31-of-57 for 396 yards and four touchdowns this season, while leading the team with 75 yards rushing.  Drakar Jerry (nine receptions, 107 yards, two touchdowns) and Kendell Wimberly (10 catches, 95 yards, one TD) have been solid in leading the receiving corps. Freshman running back Jeremiah Gibbs is just behind Brown in rushing this year, while graduate student Perry Seldon is back this week to help shore up the running game.

Defensively, the Panthers will look to slow down ASU quarterback Dionte Bronneau, who had a rough week against Valdosta State last week, completing just four passes, throwing two interceptions and being sacked five times.  But against Shorter, he threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 84 yards.  Marcus Fulks leads ASU in rushing with 215 yards and two TDs this year.

"We've got to be able to stop the run," Bowens said.  "I think these guys are running the ball as good as anybody in the conference.  You have to get them one dimensional best you can.  They have a quarterback who is very athletic."

Charles Crawford anchors the CAU defense, with 19 tackles, 16 of them solo.  Aderrius Barron has made 16 stops, while Timothy Jones has added 15 and Rodney Lewis 13.

Overall, Bowens said his squad needs to match their energy, execute, and get good quarterback play on offense.

"Defensively, the keys will be to keep the top on the defense, make sure we're good on the back end and keep things in front of us; keeping an edge in our defense, making sure we're staying in our gaps," he said.  "So, we have to execute in all of those phases.  We have to play fast, play physical and play smart.  This will be a physical football team and we have to play physical as well."