The 2023 Myrtle Beach Bowl was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

played on December 16, 2023, at

Brooks Stadium Brooks Stadium is a 21,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Conway, South Carolina. It is home to the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team at Coastal Carolina University. The facility opened in 2003 and is named in honor of Coby Garrett Bro ...

Conway, South Carolina Conway is a city in Horry County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 24,849 at the 2020 census, up from 17,103 in 2010 census. It is the county seat of Horry County and is part of the Myrtle Beach metropolitan area. It is the home ...

. The fourth edition of the

Myrtle Beach Bowl The Myrtle Beach Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football bowl game first played in December 2020 in the Myrtle Beach metropolitan area. Coastal Carolina University hosts the game at its Brooks Stadium in Con ...

, the game featured the

Georgia Southern Eagles The Georgia Southern Eagles are the athletic team(s) of Georgia Southern University (GS). The Eagles compete in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A) and are members of the NCAA Division I Sun Belt Conference. Prior to joi ...

from the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

and the

Ohio Bobcats The Ohio Bobcats are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio University, located in Athens, Ohio, United States. Ohio University is a charter member (1946) of the Mid-Amer ...

from the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

(MAC). It began at approximately 11:00 a.m. EST and was televised on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. It was the first of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season. The game was originally scheduled for December 18, 2023, but was moved forward by two days to help accommodate a venue move for the 2023 Famous Toastery Bowl. Ohio's Freshman running back Rickey Hunt had 115 rushing yards and five total TDs with four if those coming on the ground. That won him the game's MVP and came in his first extended playing time of his career. His 5 TD's tied the record in bowl games and set an Ohio program record. Third-string quarterback Parker Navarro also played well in his first collegiate with start with 11 competitions on 16 attempts for 120 yards and 71 rushing yards. For Georgia Southern, Davis Brin threw for a Myrtle Beach Bowl record 350 yards, bringing his total for the year to 3,781, but his three interceptions and lost fumble provided much of the difference in the game in Ohio's 41–21 victory. Georgia Southern outgained Ohio by 21 yards but Ohio won the turnover battle 5–0, held the Eagles to 1.6 yards per rush attempt, and, with 232 total rushing yards, held the ball for almost seven more minutes. Bryce Houston led the Bobcat defense with eight tackles. Ohio sacked Brin five times.

Teams

The game featured the

from the

against the

from the

(MAC). This was the first time Georgia Southern and Ohio ever played each other, as well as the first time either team played in the Myrtle Beach Bowl.

Georgia Southern

Behind their senior transfer QB

Davis Brin Davis William Brin (born February 7, 2000) is an American football quarterback for the Georgia Southern Eagles. He previously played for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Early life and high school Brin grew up in Boerne, Texas and attended Samuel V ...

, the Eagles started the year 6–2, with the sole losses coming to

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...

, who went on to finish the season 11–1, and

Power Five The Power Five conferences are the five most prominent and highest-earning athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I, the highest level of collegiate ...

opponent

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, a game in which Brin threw five interceptions. However, after clinching bowl eligibility on October 26 with a win over

Georgia State Georgia state or ''variation'', may refer to: Primarily * Georgia State University ("State", "Georgia State"), a state university * Georgia (U.S. state) ("Georgia state"), a state of the United States of America Sports * sports teams of Georgia St ...

, the Eagles were winless in November and finished their regular season with a record of 6–6.

Ohio

After finishing as the runner-up in the MAC the previous year, the Bobcats returned most of their offensive talent in 2023, including quarterback

Kurtis Rourke Kurtis Rourke (born October 25, 2000) is a Canadian American football quarterback who will play for the Indiana Hoosiers. He previously played for the Ohio Bobcats football team. College career Ohio Rourke was the starting quarterback for the Oh ...

. After opening the season with a loss to

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

, Ohio rattled off five straight wins, including a 10–7 victory over Power Five foe

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

. Ohio clinched bowl eligibility with a 20–17 victory over

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Michigan, Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region a ...

, but missed out on the MAC championship after a 30–16 loss to division winners Miami (OH). The Bobcats finished their regular season with a record of 9–3. After the regular season Ohio took a huge transfer hit as Rourke, starting receivers Miles Cross and Ty Walton, their top two backs Sieh Bangura and O'Shaan Allison, and middle linebacker Keye Thompson all entered the

transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool launched on October 15, 2018, to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member ...

Game summary

Statistics

References

External link

Game statistics
at statbroadcast.com {{Ohio Bobcats bowl game navbox

Myrtle Beach Bowl

Georgia Southern Eagles football bowl games Ohio Bobcats football bowl games