2023 Conference USA football season explained

2023 Conference USA football season
Color:	003865
Color Text:	FFFFFF
Sport:	Football
Pixels:	200
Duration:	August 26 – December 2, 2023
No Of Teams:	9
Draft:	2024 NFL Draft
Draft Link:	2024 NFL draft
Top Pick:	Malachi Corley, WR, Western Kentucky
Picked By:	New York Jets (round 3, pick 65)
Season:	Regular season
Season Champs:	Liberty
Mvp Link:	Conference USA football individual awards
Finals:	CUSA Championship Game
Finals Link:	2023 Conference USA Football Championship Game
Finals Champ:	Liberty
Finals Runner-Up:	New Mexico State
Finals Mvp:	Kaidon Salter, QB, Liberty
Prevseason Link:	2022 Conference USA football season
Prevseason Year:	2022
Nextseason Link:	2024 Conference USA football season
Nextseason Year:	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.

Previous season

See main article: 2022 Conference USA football 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]

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
style=	FIU	Mike MacIntyre	2	50–73	4–8	2–6
style=	Jacksonville State	Rich Rodriguez	2	172–121–2	9–2	0–0
style=	Liberty	Jamey Chadwell	1	99–57	0–0	0–0
style=	Louisiana Tech	Sonny Cumbie	2	5–12	3–9	2–6
style=	Middle Tennessee	Rick Stockstill	18	109–103	109–103	79–53
style=	New Mexico State	Jerry Kill	2	165–110	7–6	0–0
style=	Sam Houston	K. C. Keeler	10	259–100–1	85–27	0–0
style=	UTEP	Dana Dimel	6	47–79	17–40	8–28
style=	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

See main article: 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings.

	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Final
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.

All times Eastern time.

Conference USA Championship Game

Postseason

Bowl Games

See also: 2023–24 NCAA football 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, 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:

Power Conferences 5	Record
ACC	0–0
Big Ten	0–3
Big 12	0–2
Pac-12	0–1
Notre Dame	0–0
SEC	1–4
Power 5 Total	1–10
Other FBS Conferences	Record
American	2–2
Independents (Excluding Notre Dame)	2–1
MAC	3–0
Mountain West	1–4
Sun Belt	1–2
Other FBS Total	9–9
FCS Opponents	Record
Football Championship Subdivision	8–0
Total Non-Conference Record	18–19

Postseason

Power Five Conferences	Record
ACC	0–0
Big 12	0–0
Big Ten	0–0
Notre Dame	0–0
Pac-12	0–1
SEC	0–0
Power 5 Total	0–1
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	2–2

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			L 7–56
September 2	Big 12	Sam Houston			L 0–14
September 9	SEC	Middle Tennessee			L 19–23
September 9	Big Ten	UTEP			L 7–38
September 16	Pac-12	UTEP			L 10–31
September 16	Big Ten	Western Kentucky			L 10–63
September 23	Big Ten	Louisiana Tech			L 14–28
September 23	Big 12	Sam Houston			L 7–38
November 4	SEC	Jacksonville State			L 28–38
November 18	SEC	FIU			L 20–44
November 18	SEC	New Mexico State			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			L 14–38
September 2	MAC		Liberty	Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA	W 34–24
September 2	American		Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	W 41–24
September 9	American		FIU	Riccardo Silva Stadium • Westchester, FL	W 46–39
September 9	Sun Belt	Jacksonville State			L 16–30
September 9	Mountain West		Sam Houston		L 3–13
September 16	American	North Texas	Louisiana Tech	Joe Aillet Stadium • Ruston, LA	L 37–40
September 16	MAC	Liberty			W 55–27
September 16	Mountain West	New Mexico State			W 27–17
September 23	MAC		Jacksonville State	Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium • Jacksonville, AL	W 21–0
September 23	Mountain West		Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN	L 23–31
September 23	Mountain West	New Mexico State			L 17–20
September 23	Mountain West		UTEP	Sun Bowl • El Paso, TX	L 28–45
September 23	Sun Belt	Western Kentucky			L 24–27
November 11	Sun Belt		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		New Mexico State	Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM	L 30–41
September 16	FIU			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		FIU	Riccardo Silva Stadium • Westchester, FL	W 14–12
September 2		Jacksonville State	Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium • Jacksonville, AL	W 49–3
September 2		New Mexico State	Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM	W 58–21
September 2		UTEP	Sun Bowl • El Paso, TX	W 28–14
September 9		Louisiana Tech	Joe Aillet Stadium • Ruston, LA	W 51–21
September 9		Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	W 52–22
September 16		Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN	W 35–14
November 4		Sam Houston	Bower Stadium • Huntsville, TX	W 24–21

Awards and honors

Player of the week honors

Week		Offensive				Defensive				Special Teams
		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]}

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
First Team Offense
WR	Smoke Harris	style=	Louisiana Tech
WR	Kelly Akharaiyi	style=	UTEP
WR	Malachi Corley	style=	Western Kentucky
OL	X’Zauvea Gadlin	style=	Liberty
OL	Andrew Meyer	style=	UTEP
OL	Keylan Rutledge	style=	Middle Tennessee
OL	Shiyazh Pete	style=	New Mexico State
OL	Elijah Klein	style=	UTEP
TE	Holden Willis	style=	Middle Tennessee
QB	Kaidon Salter	style=	Liberty
RB	Quinton Cooley	style=	Liberty
RB	Malik Jackson	style=	Jacksonville State
First Team Defense
DE	Maurice Westmoreland	style=	UTEP
DE	Chris Hardie	style=	Jacksonville State
DT	Sterling Webb	style=	New Mexico State
DT	Jordan Guerad	style=	FIU
LB	Tyrice Knight	style=	UTEP
LB	Tyren Dupree	style=	Liberty
LB	Trevor Williams	style=	Sam Houston
DB	Willie Roberts	style=	Louisiana Tech
DB	Kobe Singleton	style=	Liberty
DB	Brylan Green	style=	Liberty
DB	Da’Marcus Crosby	style=	Sam Houston
First Team Special Teams
K	Ethan Albertson	style=	New Mexico State
P	Blake Ochsendorf	style=	Louisiana Tech
LS	Brody Butler	style=	Middle Tennessee
KR	Aaron Bedgood	style=	Liberty
PR	Smoke Harris	style=	Louisiana Tech

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

NFL draft

See also: 2024 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 and References

1. Web site: FB: C-USA Announces 2023 Schedule. January 10, 2023. March 6, 2023. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
2. Web site: AAC to add six new member schools from Conference USA ahead of 2023 college football season . Shehan. Jeyarajah. July 15, 2022. March 6, 2023. cbssports.com. CBS Sports.
3. Web site: Vannini. Chris. November 5, 2021. Conference USA adds Liberty, New Mexico State, Sam Houston, Jacksonville State. live. March 6, 2023. The Athletic. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20211105172412/https://theathletic.com/news/conference-usa-adds-liberty-new-mexico-state-sam-houston-jacksonville-state/BAEjTewaDa07/ . 2021-11-05 .
4. C-USA Adds Kennesaw State, Owls to Join in 2024 . Conference USA . October 14, 2022 . October 14, 2022.
5. Conference USA Officially Welcomes Four New Members . Conference USA . July 1, 2023 . January 9, 2024.
6. Web site: FB: CUSA Announces Media's Predicted Order of Finish. July 21, 2023. July 27, 2023. conferenceUSA.com. Conference USA.
7. Web site: C-USA Announces 2023 Preseason Awards. July 24, 2023. July 29, 2023. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
8. Web site: Liberty hires Jamey Chadwell; sides agree to 7-year deal, sources say. Pete. Thamel. December 4, 2022. March 6, 2023. espn.com. ESPN.
9. News: Deaver . Colin . 2023-11-26 . UTEP parts ways with Dana Dimel after six seasons . en-US . . 2023-11-26.
10. Web site: UTEP hires Scotty Walden away from Austin Peay to be coach. December 4, 2023. December 5, 2023. espn.com. ESPN.
11. Massaro announces change in leadership for Blue Raider football . Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders . November 27, 2023 . November 27, 2023.
12. Web site: Middle Tennessee hires Derek Mason: Ex-Vanderbilt coach returns to college football after one-year sabbatical. David. Cobb. December 6, 2023. December 6, 2023. cbssports.com. CBS Interactive.
13. Web site: Jerry Kill steps down, Tony Sanchez named new NMSU head coach. December 23, 2023. December 23, 2023. Pete. Thamel. espn.com. ESPN.
14. Web site: Aug. 28 CUSA Players of the Week. August 28, 2023. August 29, 2023. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
15. Web site: Sept. 4 CUSA Players of the Week. September 4, 2023. September 4, 2023. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
16. Web site: Sept. 11 CUSA Players of the Week. September 11, 2023. September 11, 2023. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
17. Web site: Sept. 18 CUSA Players of the Week. September 18, 2023. September 19, 2023. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
18. Web site: Sept. 25 CUSA Players of the Week. September 25, 2023. September 25, 2023. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
19. Web site: Oct. 2 CUSA Players of the Week. October 2, 2023. October 2, 2023. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
20. Web site: Oct. 9 CUSA Players of the Week. October 9, 2023. October 9, 2023. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
21. Web site: Oct. 16 CUSA Players of the Week. October 16, 2023. October 16, 2023. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
22. Web site: Oct. 23 CUSA Players of the Week. October 23, 2023. October 23, 2023. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
23. Web site: October 30 CUSA Players of the Week. October 30, 2023. October 30, 2023. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
24. Web site: November 6 CUSA Players of the Week. November 6, 2023. November 6, 2023. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
25. Web site: November 13 CUSA Players of the Week. November 13, 2023. November 13, 2023. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
26. Web site: November 20 CUSA Players of the Week. November 20, 2023. November 21, 2023. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
27. Web site: November 27 CUSA Players of the Week. November 27, 2023. November 27, 2023. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
28. Web site: CUSA Announces 2023 Players of the Year. December 6, 2023. December 10, 2023. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
29. Web site: Liberty’s Chadwell, New Mexico State’s Kill Named CUSA Co-Coaches of the Year. December 6, 2023. December 10, 2023. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.
30. Web site: CUSA Announces 2023 All-Conference Teams. December 5, 2023. December 10, 2023. conferenceusa.com. Conference USA.