2023 Myrtle Beach Bowl
The 2023 Myrtle Beach Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 16, 2023, at Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina. The fourth edition of the Myrtle Beach Bowl, the game featured the Georgia Southern Eagles from the Sun Belt Conference and the Ohio Bobcats from the Mid-American Conference (MAC). It began at approximately 11:00 a.m. EST and was televised on ESPN. It was the first of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season.
| 2023 Myrtle Beach Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 4th Myrtle Beach Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 16, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Brooks Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Conway, South Carolina | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Rickey Hunt Jr. (RB, Ohio) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Georgia Southern by 3.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Greg Rowles & Festive Brass of Myrtle Beach | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Patrick Foy (Mountain West) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 8,059 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Drew Carter (play-by-play), Dustin Fox (analyst), and Stormy Buonantony (sideline) | ||||||||||||||||||
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.