2023 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team

2023 Eastern Michigan Eagles football
ConferenceMid-American Conference
DivisionWest Division
Record6–7 (4–4 MAC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMike Piatkowski (1st season)
Offensive schemeMultiple
Defensive coordinatorBen Needham (1st season)
Base defense4–2–5
Home stadiumRynearson Stadium
2023 Mid-American Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
East Division
Miami (OH) xy$   7 – 1     11 – 3  
Ohio   6 – 2     10 – 3  
Bowling Green   5 – 3     7 – 6  
Buffalo   3 – 5     3 – 9  
Akron   1 – 7     2 – 10  
Kent State   0 – 8     1 – 11  
West Division
Toledo xy   8 – 0     11 – 3  
Northern Illinois   5 – 3     7 – 6  
  4 – 4     6 – 7  
Central Michigan   3 – 5     5 – 7  
Ball State   3 – 5     4 – 8  
Western Michigan   3 – 5     4 – 8  
Championship: Miami (OH) 23, Toledo 14
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant

The 2023 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team represented Eastern Michigan University during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Eagles were led by tenth-year head coach Chris Creighton and played their home games at Rynearson Stadium in Ypsilanti, Michigan. They competed as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference (MAC).[1][2] They finished the regular season 6–6 and 4–4 in conference play.[3] They would end the season losing 10–59 to South Alabama in the 68 Ventures Bowl.[4]

The Eastern Michigan Eagles football team drew an average home attendance of 16,882 in 2023.[5]

Preseason

Preseason Awards

  • Samson Evans (Maxwell Award Preseason Watchlist)

Preseason polls

Coaches Poll

On July 20, the MAC announced the preseason coaches poll. Eastern Michigan was picked to finish second in the West.[6]

East
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Ohio 63 (9)
2 Miami 52 (2)
3 Buffalo 51 (1)
4 Bowling Green 35
5 Akron 26
6 Kent State 19
West
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Toledo 66 (11)
2 Eastern Michigan 55 (1)
3 Northern Illinois 38
4 Central Michigan 37
5 Ball State 27
6 Western Michigan 23
Coaches poll (MAC Championship)
Rank Team Votes
1 Toledo 7
2 Ohio 4
3 Buffalo 1

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 1 6:30 p.m. Howard*
ESPN+ W 33–23 18,065
September 9 7:30 p.m. at Minnesota*
BTN L 6–25 48,101
September 16 2:00 p.m. UMass*
  • Rynearson Stadium
  • Ypsilanti, MI
 ESPN+ W 19–17 16,138
September 23 5:00 p.m. at Jacksonville State*
ESPN+ L 0–21 20,966
September 30 1:30 p.m. at Central Michigan
ESPN+ L 23–2628,323
October 7 3:30 p.m. Ball Statedagger
  • Rynearson Stadium
  • Ypsilanti, MI
 ESPN+ W 24–1018,696
October 14 12:00 p.m. Kent State
  • Rynearson Stadium
  • Ypsilanti, MI
 CBSSN W 28–1418,443
October 21 3:30 p.m. at Northern Illinois
ESPN+ L 13–20 9,458
October 28 1:00 p.m. Western Michigan
ESPN+ L 21–4516,297
November 8 7:30 p.m. at Toledo
ESPN2 L 23–49 17,842
November 14 7:00 p.m. Akron
  • Rynearson Stadium
  • Ypsilanti, MI
 CBSSN W 30–27 2OT 13,664
November 21 7:30 p.m. at Buffalo
ESPN2 W 24–11 11,243
December 23 7:00 p.m. at South Alabama
ESPN L 10–59 20,926
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

[7][8][9]

Game summaries

South Alabama (68 Ventures Bowl)

See also: 2023 South Alabama Jaguars football team and 2023 68 Ventures Bowl
Eastern Michigan Eagles (6–6) vs. South Alabama Jaguars (6–6) (68 Ventures Bowl)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Jaguars 17 21 21059
Eagles 0 3 0710

at Hancock Whitney Stadium • Mobile, Alabama

  • Date: December 23, 2023
  • Game time: 7:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: Cloudy • Temperature: 64 °F (18 °C) • Wind: 4 mph (6.4 km/h) SE
  • Game attendance: 20,926
  • Referee: Cal McNeill
  • TV announcers (ESPN): Taylor Zarzour (play-by-play), Matt Stinchcomb (analyst), and Alyssa Lang (sideline)
  • Box score
Game information
First Quarter
  • (10:50) USA – Diego Guajardo 46 yard field goal (Drive: 11 plays, 55 yards, 4:10; South Alabama 3–0)
  • (7:37) USA – DJ Thomas-Jones 3 yard pass from Desmond Trotter, Diego Guajardo kick (Drive: 5 plays, 63 yards, 2:19; South Alabama 10–0)
  • (3:30) USA – Jamaal Pritchett 5 yard pass from Gio Lopez, Diego Guajardo kick (Drive: 6 plays, 65 yards, 2:38; South Alabama 17–0)
Second Quarter
  • (14:50) EMU – Jesus Gomez 49 yard field goal (Drive: 4 plays, 4 yards, 1:10; South Alabama 17–3)
  • (10:15) USA – Kentrel Bullock 17 yard run, Diego Guajardo kick (Drive: 8 plays, 62 yards, 4:35; South Alabama 24–3)
  • (8:07) USA – DJ Thomas-Jones 20 yard pass from Gio Lopez, Diego Guajardo kick (Drive: 4 plays, 37 yards, 1:54; South Alabama 31–3)
  • (1:39) USA – Jamaal Pritchett 42 yard pass from Gio Lopez, Diego Guajardo kick (Drive: 5 plays, 75 yards, 1:06; South Alabama 38–3)
Third Quarter
  • (11:07) USA – Desmond Trotter 3 yard run, Diego Guajardo kick (Drive: 5 plays, 34 yards, 2:05; South Alabama 45–3)
  • (7:50) USA – Gio Lopez 27 yard run, Diego Guajardo kick (Drive: 3 plays, 43 yards, 0:55; South Alabama 52–3)
  • (2:07) USA – PJ Martin 6 yard run, Diego Guajardo kick (Drive: 8 plays, 74 yards, 3:31; South Alabama 59–3)
Fourth Quarter
  • (0:58) EMU – Cam'Ron McCoy 10 yard run, Jesus Gomez kick (Drive: 13 plays, 70 yards, 7:27; South Alabama 59–10)

Following the game, an altercation took place on-field between the teams prior to the trophy presentation, initiated by an Eastern Michigan player sucker punching a South Alabama player while the South Alabama marching band and team were singing the school's alma mater.[10][11] Eastern Michigan's athletic director apologized the next day, stating (in part) "We strongly condemn the actions of some of the student-athletes".[12]

Statistics USA EMU
First downs 29 10
Total yards 627 150
Rushing yards 320 77
Passing yards 307 73
Passing: comp–att–int 23–36–1 12–30–2
Time of possession 30:53 29:07
Team Category Player Statistics
South Alabama Passing Gio Lopez 14/19, 192 yards, 3 TD
Rushing Gio Lopez 7 carries, 88 yards, TD
Receiving Jamaal Pritchett 8 receptions, 127 yards, 2 TD
Eastern Michigan Passing Cam'Ron McCoy 12/27, 73 yards, 2 INT
Rushing Cam'Ron McCoy 13 carries, 73 yards, TD
Receiving Terry Lockett Jr. 2 receptions, 29 yards

Post Season Awards

  • Brian Dooley (Disney Spirit Award)

References

  1. ^ "Rynearson Stadium". Eastern Michigan Athletics.
  2. ^ "Chris Creighton". Sports Reference.
  3. ^ "MAC College Football Standings - 2023". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  4. ^ "South Alabama stays home to face Eastern Michigan in 68 Ventures Bowl". usatotday.com. AP. December 3, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  5. ^ "2023 FBS Attendance Trends". D1.ticker. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
  6. ^ "MAC football preseason poll: Toledo picked to win conference championship; BGSU tabbed to finish fourth in MAC East". wtol.com. WTOL 11. July 20, 2023. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  7. ^ "2023 Eastern Michigan Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  8. ^ "Eastern Michigan Eagles Schedule 2023". ESPN.
  9. ^ "2023 Football Schedule".
  10. ^ Salerno, Cameron (December 24, 2023). "Eastern Michigan-South Alabama brawl: Postgame chaos erupts after sucker punch at 68 Ventures Bowl". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  11. ^ Bumbaca, Chris (December 24, 2023). "EMU player sucker punches South Alabama player, ignites wild fight after 68 Ventures Bowl". USA Today. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  12. ^ "Eastern Michigan apologizes for player's punch vs. South Alabama". ESPN.com. December 24, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
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