<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(59, 67, 72); background-color: transparent;">Each Tuesday during football season, all 11 Southland Conference football coaches convene for a weekly teleconference.</span>

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<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In a new feature each Wednesday, The American Press will survey the rest of the Southland, providing the most interesting tidbits and news from the call.</span>

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<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: 700; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(59, 67, 72); background-color: transparent;">Southeastern Louisiana</span>

<span style="font-family: Arial;">Matt Barrett’s started his Southeastern career on a sour note.</span>

<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(59, 67, 72); background-color: transparent;">Barrett, the team’s first-year offensive coordinator, lost his home in the recent flooding, coach Ron Roberts said. His wife and two sons had moved to Louisiana in April, Roberts said, and the family was forced to evacuate during the historic deluge.</span>

<span style="font-family: Arial;">For a while, Barrett and his family moved in with offensive line coach Travis Mikel.</span>

<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(59, 67, 72); background-color: transparent;">“We tried to get our kids out as much as we could (to help),” Roberts said. “I think it was a great opportunity for our guys to give back, but obviously we don’t feel like that was enough. You want to just cancel everything and go help all day long, every day. But it does give you a sense of gratitude and it humbles you that everything isn’t that big of a deal when you watch someone lose their home.”</span>

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<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(59, 67, 72); background-color: transparent;">The former wide receivers coach at Georgia Southern, Barrett’s demanding style has won over his new players, Roberts said, though the young offense continues to evolve.</span>

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<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(59, 67, 72); background-color: transparent;">“He’s a demanding football coach, he’s a great football coach,” Roberts said. “I think we’re moving along. Are we where we want to be? No. Are we kind of where we expected? Yeah. We’ve got some growth to do. We’re pretty inexperienced in a lot of spots on offense, especially the skill positions.”</span>

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<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: 700; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(59, 67, 72); background-color: transparent;">Northwestern State</span>

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<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(59, 67, 72); background-color: transparent;">Friday’s trip to Waco, Texas is the Demons’ second in three years.</span>

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<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(59, 67, 72); background-color: transparent;">Not much is the same.</span>

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<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(59, 67, 72); background-color: transparent;">Baylor’s sexual assault scandal overtook offseason headlines and, ultimately, cost coach Art Briles, athletic director Ian McCaw and university president Ken Starr their jobs. The Bears, now under coach Jim Grobe, get the Demons at home in the much-anticipated first game since Pepper Hamilton’s report was released and the fallout ensued.</span>

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<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(59, 67, 72); background-color: transparent;">“It was a very enjoyable experience when we went over there and played that game, so I don’t expect it to be any different in that regard,” Northwestern coach Jay Thomas said. “Philosophy wise, I’m sure coach Grobe may have a spin here or there, but we have not gone back and studied his time at Wake Forest. The entire staff is still there. I’m sure in the offseason, like everyone does, they tweaked some things here and there but we anticipate a lot of the same.”</span>

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<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(59, 67, 72); background-color: transparent;">Baylor beat Northwestern 70-6 in Waco during the 2014-15 season.</span>

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<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: 700; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(59, 67, 72); background-color: transparent;">Nicholls State</span>

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<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(59, 67, 72); background-color: transparent;">The Colonels are lagging behind the rest of the conference — and with good reason.</span>

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<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(59, 67, 72); background-color: transparent;">For a second straight year, Nicholls has an open date during the first week of the season, leaving it to face 11 consecutive games. The first? A trip to Georgia.</span>

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<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(59, 67, 72); background-color: transparent;">The Colonels finished their final fall scrimmage last weekend, coach Tim Rebowe said, after his team reported to fall camp one week later than other conference foes.</span>

<span id="docs-internal-guid-f42b4c6b-dd04-ea74-abca-b3fd846ce0e8" style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(59, 67, 72); background-color: transparent;">“I’m not a fan of having the first week open. We’ll deal with that and the downside of that is everyone is getting excited about the start of college football season and you’re sitting here kind of twiddling your thumbs. Then on the flip side, you have to go 11 straight weeks without an open date, which is not an easy task to do. We’ll deal with it, we’ll get through it.”</span><p>Southeastern Louisiana head football coach Ron Roberts. (Associated Press)</p><p></p>L.G. Patterson