The Eastern Michigan Eagles enter the 2023 college football season as the only current MAC team to have never qualified for the conference’s championship game. Can Chris Creighton’s team change that this fall? Our Eastern Michigan season predictions hold all the answers.
Eastern Michigan Season Predictions: Predicting the Game-By-Game Results
Using groupthink, College Football Network analysts have painstakingly gone through every game for every team in the MAC and across the country.
Find Every MAC Season Prediction per team: Ball State | Central Michigan | Eastern Michigan | Northern Illinois | Toledo | Western Michigan | Akron | Bowling Green | Buffalo | Kent State | Miami (OH) | Ohio
Picking these games straight up with a projected score using the rosters as up-to-date as the last spring practice, what do the Eastern Michigan season predictions suggest as a ceiling for 2023 season Eagles expectations?
Week 1 – Eastern Michigan vs. Howard: Win, 34-13
Scheduling non-FBS games to open the season is meant to guarantee an easy win and a boost to your overall record. While Eastern Michigan ticks both those boxes with a Week 1 win over Howard, don’t allow the scoreline to fool you into thinking the Bison will lay down and take their beating. There’s plenty of top-tier talent on their roster, led by QB Quinton Williams.
Week 2 – Eastern Michigan @ Minnesota: Loss, 15-32
Eastern Michigan and Minnesota have never met before, but the Eagles face a familiar foe in former Western Michigan running back Sean Tyler, who is set to lead a dangerous Gophers RB rotation. There’s excitement for young QB Athan Kaliakmanis too, and with several defensive additions from the transfer portal, Minnesota should comfortably clip the Eagles’ wings.
MORE: MAC RB Rankings 2023
Week 3 – Eastern Michigan vs. UMass: Win, 35-12
An uncertain quarterback situation and a roster that is devoid of top-tier talent on either side of the ball means that UMass poses no significant threat to Eastern Michigan in Week 3. Giving up 29 rushing touchdowns last season, expect EMU standout running back Samson Evans to feast as he asserts himself as one of the best in the MAC this fall.
Week 4 – Eastern Michigan @ Jacksonville State: Win, 29-20
FBS newcomers Jacksonville State will be out to prove they’re no pushovers early on, and the Gamecocks are a potential banana skin road game on the Eastern Michigan schedule. However, getting them early in the year should prove beneficial for an Eagles team who heads into MAC play at 3-1 on the year.
Week 5 – Eastern Michigan @ Central Michigan: Win, 29-22
Central Michigan has historically had the edge in this in-state rivalry, but Eastern Michigan emerged with a comfortable victory in this fixture last season, and the Eagles have the talent to make it consecutive seasons with a win over the Chippewas for the first time since 2007-2008.
Week 6 – Eastern Michigan vs. Ball State: Win, 27-21
Ball State has won the last two times these teams met in Ypsilanti, but the Eagles hold all the advantages in this Week 6 bird battle. While running back Evans has the potential to be a game-winner, don’t sleep on a wide receiver like Tanner Knue being a difference-maker against a Cardinals defense that lost its most productive defensive playmakers to the NFL Draft.
Week 7 – Eastern Michigan vs. Kent State: Win, 28-25
Eastern Michigan hasn’t beaten Kent State at home since 2005, but there’s a little less electricity in these Golden Flashes than the teams that have seen recent success in the MAC. The departure of QB Collin Schlee to UCLA and Marquez Cooper to Ball State has the potential to be damaging to Kent State, especially in a close contest like this one often is.
Week 8 – Eastern Michigan @ Northern Illinois: Loss, 13-22
2022 was a down year for Northern Illinois, but even in that tumultuous campaign, they managed to overtake Eastern Michigan with a comprehensive win. While we expect a tighter result than a year ago, a resurgent Huskies team that returns electric pass catcher and return man Trayvon Rudolph can edge the Eagles in Week 8.
Week 9 – Eastern Michigan vs. Western Michigan: Win, 33-30
With our season predictions forecasting a fifth straight win over the Western Michigan Broncos for the Eagles, Eastern Michigan retains the Michigan MAC Trophy — the third time in the trophy’s history that the Eagles have won it in consecutive years. Although former ODU QB Hayden Wolff and Virginia Tech RB Keshawn King bolster the offense, the Eagles are too strong.
Week 11 – Eastern Michigan @ Toledo: Loss, 24-32
With their offensive firepower and productive, turnover-inducing defense, few teams are going to be able to slow down Toledo as the Rockets hurtle towards another appearance in the MAC Championship Game.
MORE: MAC QB Rankings 2023
Prior to their 2021 win, Eastern Michigan hadn’t won in Toledo since 1999 and the combination of home-field advantage and on-field talent is too much to overcome.
Week 12 – Eastern Michigan vs. Akron: Win, 28-17
Akron propped up the MAC in several statistical metrics last fall, and with the departure of several of their most talented players via the transfer portal, it might be another similar season during Joe Moorhead’s second season in charge. The Eagles won by 20 the last time the Zips came to Ypsilanti, but they’ll settle for a two-score game after a closer game last fall.
Week 13 – Eastern Michigan @ Buffalo: Loss, 27-29
Eastern Michigan went 5-3 in the MAC last fall and potentially enter Week 13 in a position to go one win better in the 2023 college football season. However, they come up just short against a Buffalo team that boasts a talented running back room and one of the best quarterback’s in the MAC in Cole Snyder.
The Bulls will be a difficult team to beat for the Eagles.
