2023 Conference USA football season

2023 Conference USA football season
2023 Conference USA football season
League	NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
Sport	Football
Duration	August 26 – December 2, 2023
Number of teams	9
2024 NFL Draft
Top draft pick	Malachi Corley, WR, Western Kentucky
Picked by	New York Jets (round 3, pick 65)
Regular season
Season champions	Liberty
CUSA Championship Game
Champions	Liberty
Runners-up	New Mexico State
Finals MVP	Kaidon Salter, QB, Liberty
Seasons
	← 2022 2024 →

The 2023 Conference USA football season was the 28th season of college football play for Conference USA (CUSA). The season began on August 26, 2023 and ended with the Conference Championship Game on December 2, 2023.^[1] The conference consisted of nine members and was part of the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season.

2023 Conference USA football standings
v t e
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
$ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant * – Ineligible for postseason play due to FCS-to-FBS transition rules Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

During the 2022 season, the UTSA Roadrunners posted the best record in the regular season. UTSA and North Texas advanced to the championship game, where UTSA won by a score of 48–27.

Conference realignment

Prior to the 2023 season, Conference USA saw substantial realignment, with six schools leaving the conference to join the American Athletic Conference: UTSA, North Texas, Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, Rice, and UAB.^[2] Conference USA then invited four schools to join: Liberty and New Mexico State, who were both previously FBS independents; Jacksonville State, who were previously in the ASUN Conference at the Division I FCS level; and Sam Houston, who were previously in the Western Athletic Conference also at the Division I FCS level.^[3] The realignment left CUSA with nine football members for the 2023 season. CUSA further announced that Kennesaw State, another member of the ASUN Conference, would move up beginning in 2024.^[4]

On the same day the membership changes took effect (July 1, 2023), the conference unveiled a "brand refresh". The former abbreviation of "C-USA" was retired in favor of "CUSA", and the logo was slightly updated.^[5]

Both Jacksonville State and Sam Houston were initially ineligible for both the conference championship and for bowl games due to their transition from the FCS level to FBS level. However, Jacksonville State received a berth in the New Orleans Bowl after only 79 non-transitional teams were eligible to fill the 82 bowl slots this season.

Preseason

Preseason poll

The preseason poll was released on July 21, 2023.^[6]

Predicted finish	Team	1st place votes
Media poll
1	Western Kentucky	18
2	Liberty	4
3	Middle Tennessee
4	Louisiana Tech
5	New Mexico State
6	UTEP
7	Jacksonville State
8t	FIU
8t	Sam Houston

Preseason player awards

Preseason player awards were announced on July 24.^[7]

Offensive Player of the Year: Austin Reed (Redshirt Senior, Western Kentucky quarterback)
Defensive Player of the Year: JaQues Evans (Junior, Western Kentucky linebacker)
Special Teams Player of the Year: Smoke Harris (Redshirt Senior, Louisiana Tech kick returner/punt returner)

Head Coaches

On December 4, 2022, Jamey Chadwell was announced as the new head coach of Liberty after previous head coach Hugh Freeze left to take the head coaching position at Auburn. Chadwell had previously been head coach of Coastal Carolina in the Sun Belt Conference.^[8]

Note: All stats shown are before the start of the 2023 season.

Team	Head coach	Years at school	Overall record	Record at school	CUSA Record
FIU	Mike MacIntyre	2	50–73	4–8	2–6
Jacksonville State	Rich Rodriguez	2	172–121–2	9–2	0–0
Liberty	Jamey Chadwell	1	99–57	0–0	0–0
Louisiana Tech	Sonny Cumbie	2	5–12	3–9	2–6
Middle Tennessee	Rick Stockstill	18	109–103	109–103	79–53
New Mexico State	Jerry Kill	2	165–110	7–6	0–0
Sam Houston	K. C. Keeler	10	259–100–1	85–27	0–0
UTEP	Dana Dimel	6	47–79	17–40	8–28
Western Kentucky	Tyson Helton	5	32–21	32–21	23–8

Post-season changes

On November 26, UTEP announced that it had fired head coach Dana Dimel after 6 season with the school.^[9] Dimel had posted a 20–49 record in his tenure. On December 4, UTEP announced Scotty Walden as the new head coach for the 2024 season.^[10] Walden had previously been head coach at Austin Peay.
On November 27, Middle Tennessee announced that it had fired head coach Rick Stockstill after 18 seasons with the school.^[11] Stockstill had a 113–111 record during his tenure at the school. On December 6, Middle Tennessee announced Derek Mason as the new head coach for the 2024 season.^[12] Mason had previously been head coach at Vanderbilt.
On December 23, New Mexico State head coach Jerry Kill announced that he was stepping down from the position. The school announced that wide receivers coach Tony Sanchez would be promoted to the head coach position for 2024.^[13]

Rankings

		Pre	Wk 4	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14
FIU	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Jacksonville State	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Liberty	AP	RV			RV	RV	RV	25	25	22	20	18
	C		RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	22	22	20
	CFP	Not released								25	24	23
Louisiana Tech	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Middle Tennessee	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
New Mexico State	AP									RV	RV
	C										RV	RV
	CFP	Not released
Sam Houston	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
UTEP	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Western Kentucky	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released

**Legend**
		Improvement in ranking
		Drop in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
		No change in ranking from previous week
RV		Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
т		Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

Schedule

Index to colors and formatting
CUSA member won
CUSA member lost
CUSA teams in bold

The 2023 schedule was released on January 10, 2023.^[1]

All times Eastern time.

Week 0

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 26	5:30 p.m.	UTEP	Jacksonville State	Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium • Jacksonville, AL	CBSSN	JVST 17–14	17,982
August 26	7:00 p.m.	UMass	New Mexico State	Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM	ESPN	L 30–41	15,356
August 26	9:00 p.m.	FIU	Louisiana Tech	Joe Aillet Stadium • Ruston, LA	CBSSN	LT 22–17	16,299
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 1

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	12:00 p.m.	Louisiana Tech	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX	ESPNU	L 14–38	21,490
September 2	12:00 p.m.	Bowling Green	Liberty	Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA	CBSSN	W 34–24	18,811
September 2	2:00 p.m.	East Tennessee State	Jacksonville State	Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium • Jacksonville, AL	ESPN+	W 49–3	21,276
September 2	3:30 p.m.	South Florida	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	CBSSN	W 41–24	15,438
September 2	6:30 p.m.	Maine	FIU	Riccardo Silva Stadium • Westchester, FL	ESPN+	W 14–12	16,878
September 2	7:30 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	No. 4 Alabama	Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL	SECN	L 7–56	100,077
September 2	9:00 p.m.	Western Illinois	New Mexico State	Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM	ESPN+	W 58–21	17,943
September 2	9:00 p.m.	No. 7 (FCS) Incarnate Word	UTEP	Sun Bowl • El Paso, TX	ESPN+	W 28–14	30,738
September 2	10:15 p.m.	Sam Houston	BYU	LaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, UT	FS1	L 0–14	59,006
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 2

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 9	3:30 p.m.	UTEP	Northwestern	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	BTN	L 7–38	14,851
September 9	6:00 p.m.	New Mexico State	Liberty	Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA	ESPN+	LIB 33–17	20,123
September 9	6:30 p.m.	North Texas	FIU	Riccardo Silva Stadium • Westchester, FL	ESPN+	W 46–39	15,754
September 9	7:00 p.m.	Jacksonville State	Coastal Carolina	Brooks Stadium • Conway, SC	ESPN+	L 16–30	16,006
September 9	7:00 p.m.	Northwestern State	Louisiana Tech	Joe Aillet Stadium • Ruston, LA	ESPN+	W 51–21	19,152
September 9	7:00 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	Missouri	Faurot Field • Columbia, MO	SECN+/ESPN+	L 19–23	57,645
September 9	7:00 p.m.	Houston Christian	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	ESPN+	W 52–22	20,712
September 9	8:00 p.m.	Air Force	Sam Houston	NRG Stadium • Houston, TX	CBSSN	L 3–13	25,121
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 3

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 16	12:00 p.m.	Liberty	Buffalo	UB Stadium • Amherst, NY	CBSSN	W 55–27	13,020
September 16	3:30 p.m.	FIU	UConn	Pratt & Whitney Stadium • East Hartford, CT	CBSSN	W 24–17	20,405
September 16	4:00 p.m.	Western Kentucky	No. 6 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	FOX	L 10–63	100,217
September 16	7:00 p.m.	North Texas	Louisiana Tech	Joe Aillet Stadium • Ruston, LA	ESPN+	L 37–40	17,434
September 16	7:00 p.m.	Murray State	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN	ESPN+	W 35–14	16,605
September 16	8:00 p.m.	New Mexico State	New Mexico	University Stadium • Albuquerque, NM (Rio Grande Rivalry)		W 27–17	27,414
September 16	11:00 p.m.	UTEP	Arizona	Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ	P12N	L 10–31	44,182
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 4

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 23	12:00 p.m.	Western Kentucky	Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, AL	ESPNU	L 24–27	26,124
September 23	3:30 p.m.	Louisiana Tech	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE	BTN	L 14–28	87,115
September 23	5:00 p.m.	Eastern Michigan	Jacksonville State	Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium • Jacksonville, AL	ESPN+	W 21–0	20,966
September 23	6:30 p.m.	Liberty	FIU	Riccardo Silva Stadium • Westchester, FL	ESPN+	LIB 38–6	17,437
September 23	7:00 p.m.	Sam Houston	Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	B12N/ESPN+	L 7–38	35,044
September 23	7:00 p.m.	Colorado State	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN	ESPN+	L 23–31	19,806
September 23	9:00 p.m.	UNLV	UTEP	Sun Bowl • El Paso, TX	ESPN+	L 28–45	28,042
September 23	11:59 p.m.	New Mexico State	Hawaii	Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex • Honolulu, HI		L 17–20	10,254
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 5

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 28	7:30 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY (100 Miles of Hate)	CBSSN	WKU 31–10	14,712
September 28	8:00 p.m.	Jacksonville State	Sam Houston	Bowers Stadium • Huntsville, TX	ESPNU	JVST 35–28 ^OT	14,566
September 29	9:00 p.m.	Louisiana Tech	UTEP	Sun Bowl • El Paso, TX	CBSSN	LT 24–10	9,101
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 6

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 4	8:00 p.m.	Jacksonville State	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN	ESPNU	JVST 45–30	13,066
October 4	9:00 p.m.	FIU	New Mexico State	Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM	CBSSN	NMSU 34–17	11,540
October 5	7:00 p.m.	Sam Houston	Liberty	Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA	CBSSN	LIB 21–16	17,100
October 5	8:00 p.m.	Western Kentucky	Louisiana Tech	Joe Aillet Stadium • Ruston, LA	ESPNU	WKU 35–28	13,014
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 7

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 10	7:00 p.m.	Louisiana Tech	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN	CBSSN	MTSU 31–23	9,602
October 10	7:30 p.m.	Liberty	Jacksonville State	Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium • Jacksonville, AL	ESPNU	LIB 31–13	21,745
October 11	7:30 p.m.	UTEP	FIU	Riccardo Silva Stadium • Westchester, FL	ESPN2	UTEP 27–14	14,872
October 11	9:00 p.m.	Sam Houston	New Mexico State	Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM	CBSSN	NMSU 27–13	12,812
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 8

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 17	7:00 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	Liberty	Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA	CBSSN	LIB 42–35	16,354
October 17	7:30 p.m.	Western Kentucky	Jacksonville State	Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium • Jacksonville, AL	ESPNU	JVST 20–17	17,977
October 18	7:00 p.m.	FIU	Sam Houston	Bowers Stadium • Huntsville, TX	CBSSN	FIU 33–27 ^2OT	7,543
October 18	9:00 p.m.	New Mexico State	UTEP	Sun Bowl • El Paso, TX (Battle of I-10)	ESPN2	NMSU 28–7	19,727
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 9

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 24	7:00 p.m.	New Mexico State	Louisiana Tech	Joe Aillet Stadium • Ruston, LA	CBSSN	NMSU 27–24	13,798
October 24	7:30 p.m.	Liberty	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	ESPNU	LIB 42–29	16,036
October 25	7:00 p.m.	Jacksonville State	FIU	Riccardo Silva Stadium • Westchester, FL	CBSSN	JVST 41–16	14,074
October 25	8:00 p.m.	UTEP	Sam Houston	Bowers Stadium • Huntsville, TX	ESPN2	UTEP 37–34	6,889
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 10

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 4	12:00 p.m.	Jacksonville State	South Carolina	Williams–Brice Stadium • Columbia, SC	ESPNU	L 28–38	75,348
November 4	1:00 p.m.	Kennesaw State	Sam Houston	Bowers Stadium • Huntsville, TX	ESPN+	W 24–21	7,143
November 4	6:00 p.m.	Louisiana Tech	Liberty	Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA	CBSSN	LIB 56–30	21,647
November 4	6:00 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	New Mexico State	Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM	ESPN+	NMSU 13–7
November 4	9:00 p.m.	Western Kentucky	UTEP	Sun Bowl • El Paso, TX	ESPN+	WKU 21–13	11,111
^#Rankings from College Football Playoff. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 11

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 11	1:00 p.m.	Old Dominion	Liberty	Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA	ESPN+	W 38–10	21,481
November 11	3:00 p.m.	Sam Houston	Louisiana Tech	Joe Aillet Stadium • Ruston, LA	ESPN+	SHSU 42–27	15,080
November 11	3:30 p.m.	FIU	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN	ESPN+	MTSU 40–6	11,111
November 11	3:30 p.m.	New Mexico State	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	ESPN+	NMSU 38–29	16,319
^#Rankings from College Football Playoff. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 12

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 18	1:00 p.m.	UMass	Liberty	Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA	ESPN+	W 49–25	16,860
November 18	2:00 p.m.	Louisiana Tech	Jacksonville State	Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium • Jacksonville, AL	ESPN+	JVST 56–17	20,252
November 18	2:00 p.m.	UTEP	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN	ESPN+	MTSU 34–30	9,122
November 18	3:30 p.m.	Sam Houston	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	ESPN+	WKU 28–23	11,041
November 18	4:00 p.m.	New Mexico State	Auburn	Jordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL	SECN	W 31–10	88,043
November 18	7:30 p.m.	FIU	Arkansas	Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium • Fayetteville, AR	ESPNU	L 20–44	61,442
^#Rankings from College Football Playoff. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week 13

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 25	12:00 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	Sam Houston	Bowers Stadium • Huntsville, TX	ESPN+	SHSU 23–20	5,349
November 25	3:00 p.m.	Western Kentucky	FIU	Riccardo Silva Stadium • Westchester, FL	ESPN+	WKU 41–28	12,724
November 25	3:30 p.m.	No. 25 Liberty	UTEP	Sun Bowl • El Paso, TX	CBSSN	LIB 42–28	10,240
November 25	4:00 p.m.	Jacksonville State	New Mexico State	Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM	ESPN+	NMSU 20–17	15,702
^#Rankings from College Football Playoff. All times are in Eastern Time.

Conference USA Championship Game

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
December 1	7:00 p.m.	New Mexico State	No. 24 Liberty	Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA (Conference USA Championship Game)	CBSSN	LIB 49–35	20,077
^#Rankings from College Football Playoff. All times are in Eastern Time.

Postseason

Bowl Games

Legend
	CUSA win
	CUSA loss

Bowl game	Date	Site	Television	Time (EST)	CUSA team	Opponent	Score	Attendance
New Orleans Bowl	December 16	Caesars Superdome • New Orleans, LA	ESPN	2:15 p.m.	Jacksonville State	Louisiana	W 34–31^OT	14,485
New Mexico Bowl	December 16	University Stadium • Albuquerque, NM	ESPN	5:45 p.m.	New Mexico State	Fresno State	L 10–37	30,822
Famous Toastery Bowl	December 18	Jerry Richardson Stadium • Charlotte, NC	ESPN	2:30 p.m.	Western Kentucky	Old Dominion	W 38–35^OT	5,632
New Year's Six Bowl
Fiesta Bowl	January 1, 2024	State Farm Stadium • Glendale, AZ	ESPN	1:00 p.m.	No. 23 Liberty	No. 8 Oregon	L 6–45	47,769

Rankings are from Final CFP rankings. All times Eastern Time Zone.

Selection of teams

Bowl eligible (4): Liberty, Jacksonville State^[a], New Mexico State, Western Kentucky
Bowl ineligible (5): FIU, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, Sam Houston, UTEP

Conference USA records vs other conferences

2023–2024 records against non-conference foes:

Postseason

Power Five Conferences	Record
ACC	0–0
Big 12	0–0
Big Ten	0–0
Notre Dame	0–0
Pac-12	0–0
SEC	0–0
Power 5 Total	0–0

Other FBS Conferences	Record
American	0–0
Independents (Excluding Notre Dame)	0–0
MAC	0–0
Mountain West	0–1
Sun Belt	2–0
Other FBS Total	2–1
Total Bowl Record	2–1

Conference USA vs Power 5 matchups

This is a list of games CUSA teams scheduled against power conference teams (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12, Notre Dame and SEC). All rankings are from the current AP Poll at the time of the game.

Date	Conference	Visitor	Home	Site	Score
September 2	SEC	Middle Tennessee	No. 4 Alabama	Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL	L 7–56
September 2	Big 12	Sam Houston	BYU	LaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, UT	L 0–14
September 9	SEC	Middle Tennessee	Missouri	Faurot Field • Columbia, MO	L 19–23
September 9	Big Ten	UTEP	Northwestern	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	L 7–38
September 16	Pac-12	UTEP	Arizona	Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ	L 10–31
September 16	Big Ten	Western Kentucky	No. 6 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	L 10–63
September 23	Big Ten	Louisiana Tech	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE	L 14–28
September 23	Big 12	Sam Houston	Houston	TDECU Stadium • Houston, TX	L 7–38
November 4	SEC	Jacksonville State	South Carolina	Williams–Brice Stadium • Columbia, SC	L 28–38
November 18	SEC	FIU	Arkansas	Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium • Fayetteville, AR	L 20–44
November 18	SEC	New Mexico State	Auburn	Jordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL	W 31–10

Conference USA vs Group of Five matchups

The following games include CUSA teams competing against teams from the American, MAC, Mountain West, or Sun Belt.

Date	Conference	Visitor	Home	Site	Score
September 2	American	Louisiana Tech	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX	L 14–38
September 2	MAC	Bowling Green	Liberty	Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA	W 34–24
September 2	American	South Florida	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	W 41–24
September 9	American	North Texas	FIU	Riccardo Silva Stadium • Westchester, FL	W 46–39
September 9	Sun Belt	Jacksonville State	Coastal Carolina	Brooks Stadium • Conway, SC	L 16–30
September 9	Mountain West	Air Force	Sam Houston	NRG Stadium • Houston, TX	L 3–13
September 16	American	North Texas	Louisiana Tech	Joe Aillet Stadium • Ruston, LA	L 37–40
September 16	MAC	Liberty	Buffalo	UB Stadium • Amherst, NY	W 55–27
September 16	Mountain West	New Mexico State	New Mexico	University Stadium • Albuquerque, NM	W 27–17
September 23	MAC	Eastern Michigan	Jacksonville State	Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium • Jacksonville, AL	W 21–0
September 23	Mountain West	Colorado State	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN	L 23–31
September 23	Mountain West	New Mexico State	Hawaii	Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex • Honolulu, HI	L 17–20
September 23	Mountain West	UNLV	UTEP	Sun Bowl • El Paso, TX	L 28–45
September 23	Sun Belt	Western Kentucky	Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, AL	L 24–27
November 11	Sun Belt	Old Dominion	Liberty	Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA	W 38–10

Conference USA vs FBS independents matchups

The following games include CUSA teams competing against FBS Independents, which includes Army, UConn, or UMass.

Date	Visitor	Home	Site	Score
August 26	UMass	New Mexico State	Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM	L 30–41
September 16	FIU	UConn	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	W 24–17
November 18	UMass	Liberty	Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA	W 49–25

Conference USA vs FCS matchups

Date	Visitor	Home	Site	Score
September 2	Maine	FIU	Riccardo Silva Stadium • Westchester, FL	W 14–12
September 2	East Tennessee State	Jacksonville State	Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium • Jacksonville, AL	W 49–3
September 2	Western Illinois	New Mexico State	Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM	W 58–21
September 2	Incarnate Word	UTEP	Sun Bowl • El Paso, TX	W 28–14
September 9	Northwestern State	Louisiana Tech	Joe Aillet Stadium • Ruston, LA	W 51–21
September 9	Houston Christian	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	W 52–22
September 16	Murray State	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN	W 35–14
November 4	Kennesaw State	Sam Houston	Bower Stadium • Huntsville, TX	W 24–21

Awards and honors

Player of the week honors

Week	Offensive			Defensive			Special Teams
Week	Player	Team	Position	Player	Team	Position	Player	Team	Position
Week 0^[14]	Smoke Harris	Louisiana Tech	WR	Jeremiah Harris	Jacksonville State	S	Jack Dawson	Jacksonville State	P
Week 1^[15]	Kris Mitchell	FIU	WR	JaQues Evans	Western Kentucky	LB	Lucas Carneiro	Western Kentucky	K
Week 2^[16]	Kejon Owens	FIU	RB	Tyrice Knight	UTEP	LB	Jacob Barnes	Louisiana Tech	K
Week 3^[17]	Kaidon Salter	Liberty	QB	Sam Brumfield	Middle Tennessee	LB	Ethan Albertson	New Mexico State	K
Week 4^[18]	Kaidon Salter (2)	Liberty	QB	Chris Hardie	Jacksonville State	DL	Jack Dawson (2)	Jacksonville State	P
Week 5^[19]	Logan Smothers	Jacksonville State	QB	Bryson Washington	Western Kentucky	LB	Smoke Harris	Louisiana Tech	PR
Week 6^[20]	Malachi Corley	Western Kentucky	WR	Chris Hardie (2)	Jacksonville State	DL	Max Morgan	Liberty	P
Week 7^[21]	Diego Pavia	New Mexico State	QB	Maurice Westmoreland	UTEP	DL	Joshua Sloan	UTEP	P
Week 8^[22]	Zion Webb	Jacksonville State	QB	Reggie Peterson	FIU	LB	Alen Karajic	Jacksonville State	K
Week 9^[23]	Kaidon Salter (3)	Liberty	QB	Jaylen "J-Rock" Swain	Jacksonville State	DL	Buzz Flabiano	UTEP	K
Week 10^[24]	Quinton Cooley	Liberty	RB	Da'Marcus Crosby	Sam Houston	DB	Colby Sessums	Sam Houston	K
Week 11^[25]	Kaidon Salter (4)	Liberty	QB	Kavian Gaither	Sam Houston	LB	Ethan Albertson (2)	New Mexico State	K
Week 12^[26]	Diego Pavia (2)	New Mexico State	QB	Gabe Peterson	New Mexico State	LB	Kekoura Tarnue	Jacksonville State	DB
Week 13^[27]	Austin Reed	Western Kentucky	QB	Trevor Williams	Sam Houston	LB	Ethan Albertson (3)	New Mexico State	K

Conference USA Individual Awards

The following individuals received postseason honors as chosen by the league's head coaches.^[28]^[29]

Award	Player	School
Most Valuable Player	Kaidon Salter, QB	Liberty
Offensive Player of the Year	Diego Pavia, QB	New Mexico State
Defensive Player of the Year	Tyren Dupree, LB	Liberty
Special Teams Player of the Year	Ethan Albertson, PK	New Mexico State
Freshman of the Year	Michael Richard, DB	Louisiana Tech
Newcomer of the Year	Quinton Cooley, RB	Liberty
Coach of the Year	Jamey Chadwell Jerry Kill	Liberty New Mexico State

All-Conference Teams

The following list contains players selected as members of the 2023 All-Conference Teams.^[30]

Position	Player	Team
Second Team Offense
WR	Kris Mitchell	FIU
WR	CJ Daniels	Liberty
WR	Elijah Metcalf	Middle Tennessee
OL	Jonathan Graham	Liberty
OL	Jordan White	Liberty
OL	Treylen Brown	Jacksonville State
OL	Clay Webb	Jacksonville State
OL	Canaan Yarro	New Mexico State
TE	Sean Brown	Jacksonville State
QB	Diego Pavia	New Mexico State
RB	Deion Hankins	UTEP
RB	Star Thomas	New Mexico State
Second Team Defense
DE	Praise Amaewhule	UTEP
DE	Quindarius Dunnigan	Middle Tennessee
DT	Hosea Wheeler	Western Kentucky
DT	Jay Hardy	Liberty
LB	Donovan Manuel	FIU
LB	Sam Brumfield	Middle Tennessee
LB	Keyshaun Elliott	New Mexico State
DB	Kendrick Simpkins	Western Kentucky
DB	Teldrick Ross	Middle Tennessee
DB	Jeremiah Harris	Jacksonville State
DB	Derek Carter	Jacksonville State
Second Team Special Teams
K	Jacob Barnes	Louisiana Tech
P	Joshua Sloan	UTEP
LS	Charlie Eberle	New Mexico State
KR	Demarcus Griffin-Taylor	Louisiana Tech
PR	Dean Patterson	FIU

All-Americans

Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports of Division I-FBS football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources. The system consists of three points for a first-team honor, two points for second-team honor, and one point for third-team honor. Honorable mention and fourth team or lower recognitions are not accorded any points. College Football All-American consensus teams are compiled by position and the player accumulating the most points at each position is named first team consensus all-American. Currently, the NCAA recognizes All-Americans selected by the AP, AFCA, FWAA, TSN, and the WCFF to determine Consensus and Unanimous All-Americans. Any player named to the First Team by all five of the NCAA-recognized selectors is deemed a Unanimous All-American.

Position	Player	School	Selector
Second Team All-Americans
OL	Clay Webb	Jacksonville State	AP, PFF, USAT, WCFF
S	Brylan Green	Liberty	FWAA

NFL draft

The NFL draft will be held at Campus Martius Park in Detroit. The following list includes all C-USA players in the draft.

List of selections

Player	Position	School	Draft Round	Round Pick	Overall Pick	Team
Malachi Corley	WR	Western Kentucky	3	1	65	New York Jets
Tyrice Knight	LB	UTEP	4	18	118	Seattle Seahawks
Elijah Klein	OG	UTEP	6	44	220	Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Notes

References

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