2023 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team

{{Infobox college sports team season

| year = 2023

| team = Eastern Michigan Eagles

| sport = football

| image = Eastern Michigan Eagles logo.svg

| image_size = 100

| conference = Mid-American Conference

| division = West Division

| short_conf = MAC

| record = 6–7

| conf_record = 4–4

| head_coach = Chris Creighton

| hc_year = 10th

| off_coach = Mike Piatkowski

| oc_year = 1st

| off_scheme =

| def_coach= Ben Needham

| dc_year = 1st

| def_scheme =

| captain =

| stadium = Rynearson Stadium

| champion =

| bowl = 68 Ventures Bowl

| bowl_result = L 10–59 vs. South Alabama

}}

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).{{Cite web|url=https://emueagles.com/facilities/rynearson-stadium/2|title = Rynearson Stadium|website = Eastern Michigan Athletics}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/coaches/chris-creighton-1.html|title = Chris Creighton|website = Sports Reference}} They finished the regular season 6–6 and 4–4 in conference play.{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/standings/_/season/2023/group/15|title=MAC College Football Standings - 2023|accessdate=December 8, 2023|website=espn.com|publisher=ESPN}} They would end the season losing 10–59 to South Alabama in the 68 Ventures Bowl.{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2023/12/03/south-alabama-stays-home-to-face-eastern-michigan-in-68-ventures-bowl/71794048007/|title=South Alabama stays home to face Eastern Michigan in 68 Ventures Bowl|date=December 3, 2023|accessdate=December 8, 2023|website=usatotday.com|publisher=AP}}

The Eastern Michigan Eagles football team drew an average home attendance of 16,882 in 2023.{{cite web|title=2023 FBS Attendance Trends|website=D1.ticker| url=https://www.d1ticker.com/2023-fbs-attendance-trends/|access-date=2024-12-14}}

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.{{cite web|url=https://www.wtol.com/article/sports/ncaa/ncaaf/2023-mac-football-preseason-poll/512-03cbaf22-4e1e-47ae-9d3d-4feba7daa992|title=MAC football preseason poll: Toledo picked to win conference championship; BGSU tabbed to finish fourth in MAC East|date=July 20, 2023|accessdate=August 11, 2023|website=wtol.com|publisher=WTOL 11}}

class="wikitable" style="display: inline-table;"

align="center"

|align="center" Colspan="3" |East

align="center"

{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=Eastern Michigan Eagles|Predicted finish|Team|Votes (1st place)}}

align="center"

| 1

| Ohio

| 63 (9)

align="center"

| 2

| Miami

| 52 (2)

align="center"

| 3

| Buffalo

| 51 (1)

align="center"

| 4

| Bowling Green

| 35

align="center"

| 5

| Akron

| 26

align="center"

| 6

| Kent State

| 19

class="wikitable" style="display: inline-table;"

align="center"

|align="center" Colspan="3" |West

align="center"

{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=Eastern Michigan Eagles|Predicted finish|Team|Votes (1st place)}}

align="center"

| 1

| Toledo

| 66 (11)

align="center"

| 2

| Eastern Michigan

| 55 (1)

align="center"

| 3

| Northern Illinois

| 38

align="center"

| 4

| Central Michigan

| 37

align="center"

| 5

| Ball State

| 27

align="center"

| 6

| Western Michigan

| 23

class="wikitable"
align="center" \|align="center" Colspan="3" \|Coaches poll (MAC Championship)
align="center" {{CollegePrimaryHeader\|team=Eastern Michigan Eagles\|Rank\|Team\|Votes}}
align="center" \| 1	Toledo	7
align="center" \| 2	Ohio	4
align="center" \| 3	Buffalo	1

Schedule

{{CFB schedule

| time = y

| tv = y

| attend = y

| opprank = y

| rankyear = 2023

| rankdivision = NCAA Division I FBS

| poll = AP

| timezone = Eastern

| {{tooltip|September 1|Friday}}| 6:30 p.m. | | Howard | Rynearson Stadium | Ypsilanti, MI | ESPN+ | W 33–23 | 18,065

| September 9 | 7:30 p.m. | at | Minnesota | Huntington Bank Stadium | Minneapolis, MN | BTN | L 6–25 | 48,101

| September 23 | 5:00 p.m. | at | Jacksonville State | Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium | Jacksonville, AL | ESPN+ | L 0–21 | 20,966

| September 30 | 1:30 p.m. | at | Central Michigan | Kelly/Shorts Stadium | Mount Pleasant, MI (Michigan MAC Trophy) | ESPN+ | L 23—26 |28,323

| October 21 | 3:30 p.m. | at | Northern Illinois | Huskie Stadium | DeKalb, IL | ESPN+ | L 13–20 | 9,458

| {{tooltip|November 8|Wednesday}} | 7:30 p.m. | at | Toledo | Glass Bowl | Toledo, OH | ESPN2 | L 23—49 | 17,842

| {{tooltip|November 14|Tuesday}} | 7:00 p.m. | | Akron | Rynearson Stadium | Ypsilanti, MI | CBSSN | W 30–27 ^2OT | 13,664

| {{tooltip|November 21|Tuesday}} | 7:30 p.m. | at | Buffalo | UB Stadium | Buffalo, NY | ESPN2 | W 24–11 | 11,243

| December 23 | 7:00 p.m. | at | South Alabama | Hancock Whitney Stadium | Mobile, AL (68 Ventures Bowl) | ESPN | L 10–59 | 20,926

}}

{{cite web |title=2023 Eastern Michigan Football Schedule |url=https://fbschedules.com/2023-eastern-michigan-football-schedule/ |website=FBSchedules.com |accessdate=February 24, 2023}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/team/schedule/_/id/2199/season/2023|title = Eastern Michigan Eagles Schedule 2023|website = ESPN}}{{Cite web|url=https://emueagles.com/sports/football/schedule/2023|title = 2023 Football Schedule}}

Game summaries

=South Alabama (68 Ventures Bowl)=

{{see also|2023 South Alabama Jaguars football team|2023 68 Ventures Bowl}}

{{Americanfootballbox

|bg=#fff

|bg2=#eee

|titlestyle={{CollegePrimaryStyle|Eastern Michigan Eagles}}; ;text-align:center;

|state=collapsed

|title=Eastern Michigan Eagles (6–6) vs. South Alabama Jaguars (6–6) (68 Ventures Bowl)

|date=December 23, 2023

|time=7:00 p.m. EST

|road=Jaguars

|R1=17|R2=21|R3=21|R4=0

|home=Eagles

|H1=0|H2=3|H3=0|H4=7

|stadium= Hancock Whitney Stadium • Mobile, Alabama

|attendance=20,926

|weather=Cloudy • Temperature: {{convert|64|F|C}} • Wind: {{convert|4|mph|kph|abbr=on}} SE

|referee=Cal McNeill

|TV=ESPN

|TVAnnouncers=Taylor Zarzour (play-by-play), Matt Stinchcomb (analyst), and Alyssa Lang (sideline)

|reference= [https://www.espn.com/college-football/boxscore/_/gameId/401551755 Box score]

|scoring=

;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.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/eastern-michigan-south-alabama-brawl-post-game-chaos-erupts-after-sucker-punch-at-68-ventures-bowl/ |title=Eastern Michigan-South Alabama brawl: Postgame chaos erupts after sucker punch at 68 Ventures Bowl |first=Cameron |last=Salerno |website=CBS Sports |date=December 24, 2023 |accessdate=December 24, 2023}}{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2023/12/24/emu-south-alabama-sucker-punch-68-ventures-bowl-fight/72024748007/ |title=EMU player sucker punches South Alabama player, ignites wild fight after 68 Ventures Bowl |first=Chris |last=Bumbaca |website=USA Today |date=December 24, 2023 |accessdate=December 24, 2023}} Eastern Michigan's athletic director apologized the next day, stating (in part) "We strongly condemn the actions of some of the student-athletes".{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/39178652/eastern-michigan-apologizes-player-punch-vs-south-alabama |title=Eastern Michigan apologizes for player's punch vs. South Alabama |website=ESPN.com |date=December 24, 2023 |accessdate=December 24, 2023}}

class="wikitable" style="float: left;" ! Statistics !! style="{{CollegeSecondaryStyle\|South Alabama Jaguars}}"\|USA!!style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle\|Eastern Michigan Eagles\|color=white}}"\|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

class="wikitable" style="float: right;" ! Team !! Category !! Player !! Statistics
rowspan=3 style="{{CollegeSecondaryStyle\|South Alabama Jaguars}}; text-align:center;"\|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
rowspan=3 style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle\|Eastern Michigan Eagles\|color=white}}; text-align:center;"\|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

Eastern Michigan

Category:Eastern Michigan Eagles football seasons

Eastern Michigan Eagles football