2023 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team

2023 Eastern Michigan Eagles football
68 Ventures Bowl, L 10–59 vs. South Alabama
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	West Division
Record	6–7 (4–4 MAC)
Head coach	Chris Creighton (10th season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Piatkowski (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Ben Needham (1st season)
Home stadium	Rynearson Stadium

2023 Mid-American Conference football standings

v t e	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
Eastern Michigan		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

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	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 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*	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 7	3:30 p.m.	Ball State	Rynearson Stadium Ypsilanti, MI	ESPN+	W 24–10	18,696
October 14	12:00 p.m.	Kent State	Rynearson Stadium Ypsilanti, MI	CBSSN	W 28–14	18,443
October 21	3:30 p.m.	at Northern Illinois	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	ESPN+	L 13–20	9,458
October 28	1:00 p.m.	Western Michigan	Rynearson Stadium Ypsilanti, MI (Michigan MAC Trophy)	ESPN+	L 21–45	16,297
November 8	7:30 p.m.	at Toledo	Glass Bowl Toledo, OH	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	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
*Non-conference game Homecoming 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	3	4	Total
Jaguars	17	21	21	0	59
Eagles	0	3	0	7	10

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.