# 2023 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team

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). They finished the regular season 6–6 and 4–4 in conference play. They would end the season losing 10–59 to South Alabama in the 68 Ventures Bowl.
The Eastern Michigan Eagles football team drew an average home attendance of 16,882 in 2023.

## 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.
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 StadiumYpsilanti, MI | ESPN+ | W 33–23 | 18,065 |
| September 9 | 7:30 p.m. | at Minnesota* | Huntington Bank StadiumMinneapolis, MN | BTN | L 6–25 | 48,101 |
| September 16 | 2:00 p.m. | UMass* | Rynearson StadiumYpsilanti, MI | ESPN+ | W 19–17 | 16,138 |
| September 23 | 5:00 p.m. | at Jacksonville State* | Burgess–Snow Field at JSU StadiumJacksonville, AL | ESPN+ | L 0–21 | 20,966 |
| September 30 | 1:30 p.m. | at Central Michigan | Kelly/Shorts StadiumMount Pleasant, MI (Michigan MAC Trophy) | ESPN+ | L 23–26 | 28,323 |
| October 7 | 3:30 p.m. | Ball State | Rynearson StadiumYpsilanti, MI | ESPN+ | W 24–10 | 18,696 |
| October 14 | 12:00 p.m. | Kent State | Rynearson StadiumYpsilanti, MI | CBSSN | W 28–14 | 18,443 |
| October 21 | 3:30 p.m. | at Northern Illinois | Huskie StadiumDeKalb, IL | ESPN+ | L 13–20 | 9,458 |
| October 28 | 1:00 p.m. | Western Michigan | Rynearson StadiumYpsilanti, MI (Michigan MAC Trophy) | ESPN+ | L 21–45 | 16,297 |
| November 8 | 7:30 p.m. | at Toledo | Glass BowlToledo, OH | ESPN2 | L 23–49 | 17,842 |
| November 14 | 7:00 p.m. | Akron | Rynearson StadiumYpsilanti, MI | CBSSN | W 30–27 $^{2OT}$ | 13,664 |
| November 21 | 7:30 p.m. | at Buffalo | UB StadiumBuffalo, NY | ESPN2 | W 24–11 | 11,243 |
| December 23 | 7:00 p.m. | at South Alabama | Hancock Whitney StadiumMobile, AL (68 Ventures Bowl) | ESPN | L 10–59 | 20,926 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||

## Game summaries
### South Alabama (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
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. Eastern Michigan's athletic director apologized the next day, stating (in part) "We strongly condemn the actions of some of the student-athletes".
| 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 |
| South Alabama | Rushing | Gio Lopez | 7 carries, 88 yards, TD |
| South Alabama | Receiving | Jamaal Pritchett | 8 receptions, 127 yards, 2 TD |
| Eastern Michigan | Passing | Cam'Ron McCoy | 12/27, 73 yards, 2 INT |
| Eastern Michigan | Rushing | Cam'Ron McCoy | 13 carries, 73 yards, TD |
| Eastern Michigan | Receiving | Terry Lockett Jr. | 2 receptions, 29 yards |

## Post Season Awards

* Brian Dooley (Disney Spirit Award)