Effects of recent storms rip apart SLC schedule

On the Southland Conference's weekly teleconference Tuesday, Nicholls State coach Jay Thomas was asked how he thought his team would fare Saturday against the University of Memphis.

"I have no clue," Thomas said.

This was not the usual gamesmanship or "coach speak."

When the Colonels take on Memphis Saturday night, they will be the last college team in the country to play a season-opener in football.

It wasn't intended that way.

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Nicholls State's first season opener at New Mexico State was canceled because of Hurricane Gustva and the Colonel players and coaches evacuated campus for a week. After a bye week, the Colonels were then scheduled to open Saturday against Bowie State. That game was canceled because of Hurricane Ike.

"We've gone through three different game plans and haven't played a game yet," said Thomas, whose team has lost 14 practice days and two games. "It's very stressful but we're trying to find a way to get it done."

Seven SLC games were scheduled Saturday. Only three (University of Central Arkansas/University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Southeastern Louisiana/South Dakota and Northwestern State/Grambling) were played and NSU/Grambling was rescheduled Sunday.

SLC teams' were the home teams in games that were called off: McNeese/Cal Poly, Nicholls/Bowie State, Sam Houston State/Prairie View and Stephen F. Austin/Kentucky Wesleyan. The SFA/Kentucky Wesleyan game has been rescheduled for Oct. 11. To accommodate that, SFA's conference game against Southeastern Louisiana was moved from Oct. 11 to Oct. 4 when both teams previously had an open date.

Even some teams outside the primary hurricane area were affected last weekend.

UCA has about six players from the Gulf Coast.

"I talked to all our individuals Friday and Saturday to make sure all of their families were out of harm's way," UCA coach Clint Conque said. "From what we know, everyone's OK although some had to evacuate to Waco, Austin or Dallas."

Texas State also has several players from southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana.

"Instead of trying to spend an open week working on trying to get better, we needed to allow several players to go help their families," said Texas State coach Brad Wright. "That was disrupted, but we haven't had near the problems of our colleagues in southeast Texas and Louisiana."

One of the biggest problems facing Nicholls State players was Thibodaux residents were allowed to use the running water because of possible contamination.

"A lot of our guys haven't been able to take showers or wash their hands," said Thomas, who noted the Colonels have had a day and a half of practice since Hurricane Gustav. "We've tried to get all the bottled water we can get in town. But our team has handled it with a lot of maturity. Every day gets a little better now. We want to go out and play a game and have fun."

McNeese State lost a key intersectional game Saturday against Cal Poly.

"We allowed our players and coaches to leave campus and help evacuate their families," McNesse coach Matt Viator said. "There was minimal damage to campus and we got electricity back in the fieldhouse Monday. It's kind of like starting over now. But we scheduled 12 games and we still get to play 11."

Sam Houston State had a bye week before Saturday's scheduled game against Prairie View. Now, the Bearkats play at Kansas this weekend having not played in three weeks.

"It's difficult thing for us because we lost a home game and it seems like forever since we've played a football game," Sam Houston coach Todd Whitten said. "And in our season opener (East Central Oklahoma), our starters only played a half."

SFA coach J.C. Harper said several his coaches and players were without power at their homes in Nacogdoches, Texas, as of Tuesday morning. The university was closed Monday.

"Our coaches are living out of their offices," Harper said. "My office is my home right now, which makes it a little easier to get work done. But we also have our families here and it's a family atmosphere. We've got some good cooks on our staff so we're eating well."

Football hasn't been the only Southland sport affected by storms. Eleven soccer games have been called off and five campuses, Lamar, McNeese State, Sam Houston State, SFA and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi have been closed at one time or another.