The 2023 Conference USA Football Championship Game was a college football game played on December 1, 2023, at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, Virginia. It was the 19th edition of the Conference USA Football Championship Game and determined the champion of Conference USA (CUSA) for the 2023 season. The game begun at 7:00 pm and aired on CBS Sports Network. The game featured the Liberty Flames, the team with the best conference record, against the New Mexico State Aggies, with the second best conference record. By virtue of having the best record, Liberty hosted the game.[1]
| 2023 Conference USA Football Championship Game | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Conference Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 1, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Williams Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Lynchburg, Virginia | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Kaidon Salter, QB, Liberty | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Liberty by 11 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Ron Hudson | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 20,077 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBSSN | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Rich Waltz, Aaron Taylor and Amanda Guerra | ||||||||||||||||||
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 25 Liberty y$ | 8 | – | 0 | 13 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico State y | 7 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jacksonville State* | 6 | – | 2 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Western Kentucky | 5 | – | 3 | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Middle Tennessee | 3 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UTEP | 2 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sam Houston* | 2 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Louisiana Tech | 2 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIU | 1 | – | 7 | 4 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship: Liberty 49, New Mexico State 35 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Teams
This season was the first for both Liberty and New Mexico State in Conference USA. Both had been Independents prior to the 2023 season. It is also the first conference championship game appearance for both schools.[2]
New Mexico State
The Aggies clinched their spot in the Championship game following their defeat of Western Kentucky on November 11.[3] New Mexico State was attempting to win its first conference championship since winning the Missouri Valley Conference in 1978. 2023 was the Aggies' first season as a member of Conference USA, having previously competed as an FBS independent from 2012 to 2022.
Liberty
The Flames clinched their spot in the championship game following their defeat of Western Kentucky on October 24.[4] Liberty clinched home field in the championship game following its defeat of Louisiana Tech on November 4.[5] Liberty was seeking to win its first conference title since winning the FCS Big South Conference in 2016.
Scoring summary
New Mexico State Aggies (10–3) vs. No. 24 Liberty Flames (12–0)
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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| Aggies | 7 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 35 |
| No. 24 Flames | 7 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 49 |
at Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, Virginia
- Date: December 1, 2023
- Game time: 7:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 44 degrees, rain
- Game attendance: 20,007
- Referee: Ron Hudsoon
- TV announcers (CBS Sports Network): Rich Waltz (play-by-play), Aaron Taylor (color), and Amanda Guerra (sideline)
| Game information |
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| Statistics | NMSU | LIB |
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| First downs | 28 | 34 |
| Plays–yards | 63–499 | 70–712 |
| Rushes–yards | 28–177 | 45–393 |
| Passing yards | 322 | 319 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 21–35–1 | 20–25–0 |
| Time of possession | 30:13 | 29:47 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
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| New Mexico State | Passing | Diego Pavia | 11/16, 188 yards, 3 TD |
| Rushing | Diego Pavia | 5 carries, 45 yards, 1 TD | |
| Receiving | Trent Hudson | 7 receptions, 112 yards, 2 TD | |
| Liberty | Passing | Kaidon Salter | 20/25, 319 yards, 2 TD |
| Rushing | Kaidon Salter | 12 carries, 165 yards, 1 TD | |
| Receiving | C.J. Daniels | 7 receptions, 157 yards, 1 TD |