Wikipedia

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).[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]

2023 Eastern Michigan Eagles football
ConferenceMid-American Conference
DivisionWest Division
Record6–7 (4–4 MAC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMike Piatkowski (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorBen Needham (1st season)
Home stadiumRynearson Stadium
Seasons
← 2022
2024 →
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  
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

Preseason edit

Preseason polls edit

Coaches Poll edit

On July 20, the MAC announced the preseason coaches poll. Eastern Michigan was picked to finish second in the West.[5]

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 edit

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 State 
  • 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
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

[6][7][8]

Game summaries edit

South Alabama (68 Ventures Bowl) edit

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)
Period 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 a Eastern Michigan player sucker punching a South Alabama player while the South Alabama marching band and team were singing the school's alma mater.[9][10] Eastern Michigan's athletic director apologized the next day, stating (in part) "We strongly condemn the actions of some of the student-athletes".[11]

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

References edit

  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. ^ "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.
  6. ^ "2023 Eastern Michigan Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  7. ^ "Eastern Michigan Eagles Schedule 2023". ESPN.
  8. ^ "2023 Football Schedule".
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "Eastern Michigan apologizes for player's punch vs. South Alabama". ESPN.com. December 24, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
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