DALLAS - Wednesday marked the start of fall camp for a quartet of CUSA schools - Liberty, MTSU, Sam Houston and WKU. The remaining five teams - FIU, Jax State, LA Tech, NM State and UTEP - began practicing last week as they are slated to open the 2023 college football season on Saturday, Aug. 26, in Week 0.
The four teams that embarked on fall practices Wednesday kick off their seasons on Saturday, Sept. 2, featuring a
CBS Sports Network doubleheader with Liberty hosting Bowling Green at 11 a.m. CT and WKU welcoming South Florida at 2:30 p.m. CT. MTSU opens its 2023 campaign at Alabama at 6:30 p.m. CT on
SEC Network, and Sam Houston concludes the week one slate at BYU at 9:15 p.m. CT on
FS1.
The favorite in the CUSA media preseason poll, WKU seeks its first conference crown since 2016. WKU is coming off a 9-5 season in 2022 that saw the Tops win their second consecutive bowl game, knocking off 10-win South Alabama in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. Expectations are high in Bowling Green as WKU returns the nation’s leading passer in
QB Austin Reed, as well as the nation’s leading returning receiver in
WR Malachi Corley. Defensively, the Hilltoppers led the nation in takeaways (32) and defensive touchdowns (six) and are led by highly-regarded
LB JaQues Evans.
"We're about at the end of talking season and reality strikes," head coach
Tyson Helton said at the 2023 CUSA Football Kickoff. "When our feet hit the floor in the morning, we go to work. We do our job. Our team understands what we're capable of achieving but, at the same time, we have tremendous respect for the opponents that we're going to play this year. In the history of this conference, it's always been a dogfight to be quite honest with you."
Liberty is one of four new members in 2023 and has been projected to meet WKU in the CUSA Championship Game, receiving four first place votes in the league's media preseason poll. The Flames enter 2023 with a new head coach in
Jamey Chadwell and are coming off an 8-5 season with the program’s fourth straight bowl appearance.
"We're trying to build the identity of who we want to be, integrate those new guys and see how far they've come through the summer," Chadwell said. "We're laying our foundation to be a Conference USA champion and, ultimately, be in a CFP. That's our big vision. That's not something that's going to come easy. Our focus is on doing what champions do every day."
Middle Tennessee is coming off an 8-5 season in 2022 that saw the Blue Raiders win their second consecutive bowl game after knocking off San Diego State in the Hawai’i Bowl. Defensively,
DL Zaylin Wood,
CB Teldrick Ross and
S Tra Fluellen return for a defense that ranked second nationally in interceptions (20) in 2022 and fourth in defensive touchdowns (four).
"I thought it was a really, really good first day. I thought they competed well against each other," head coach
Rick Stockstill said. "I liked the energy. I liked the leadership we had. We had older guys helping younger guys. We had starters helping their backups. When you get that, you get that championship culture."
Sam Houston joins the FBS ranks after claiming an FCS National Championship in the spring of 2021 and finishing as the national runner-up in 2011 and 2012, highlighting its nine FCS Playoff appearances since 2011. Head coach
K.C. Keeler and the Bearkats welcome back nearly 20 student-athletes that redshirted last fall as the team began its transition to FBS, resulting in a nine-game schedule without any postseason opportunities.
"We realized a lot of our players could move on and play at other schools because we were going to have a nine-game schedule and weren't going to play for anything than what the standard is at Sam Houston. So we made some unique decisions," Keeler said at the 2023 CUSA Football Kickoff. "Those decisions brought us to a place where we feel we have a lot deeper team than we would've had going into that transition."
Gallery: (8-2-2023) Fall Camp Day 1: Liberty, MTSU, SHSU