Hogs May Need to ’Let Mind Control Body’ to Beat Heat Saturday

Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman could use former Cowboys coach's line

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas fans have thought for months the weather for Saturday's opener would be in their favor.

It was hot this summer in Cincinnati, too, so don't get your hopes up a lot for that.

A 2:30 p.m. kickoff on Labor Day weekend can be REALLY hot, but probably not this weekend.

Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman during the first workout in pads Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, on the outdoor practice fields in Fayetteville, Ark. (Andy Hodges / allHOGS Images)

Oh, it will be hot, but not REALLY hot. Forecasts call for 87-degree temperatures and the humidity somewhere around 20%.

Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman might be able to use the line former Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson hollered in his first training camp in Thousand Oaks, California, back in 1989:

"Let the mind control the body, not the body control the mind."

Jimmy loved all that psychology stuff, but that was one I first heard from a Marine to a bunch of high school kids at a football practice when the sun was beating down and coaches yelling for maximum effort.

Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson at his first training camp in 1989 at Thousand Oaks, Calif. (USA TODAY Sports)

What it means, simply, is you don't let something out of your control affect what you can control. Players have to do that to be successful, especially in football where there's basically the physical equivalent of a car wreck on every play.

Considering Johnson was a Razorback at one point, he probably wouldn't care one bit. He might even like Pittman using that one.

It's probably not even allowed to use the other one from the same camp when Jimmy told a kicker with asthma to "go over to that other field to have some asthma." He cut him the next day.

The Hogs have worked outdoors a lot in fall camp, so they should be adjusted pretty well.

But the advantage they will have in this game is being on the west side of Razorback Stadium. The Hogs' bench will be in the shade by the second quarter.

The Bearcats will still have an issue with the sun into the third quarter and maybe the entire game.

When the Hogs come off the field, they'll be sitting in the shade and it will be cooler there. Cincinnati players will be staring directly into the sun when they sit down on their bench unless they reconfigure some seating arrangements.

Whether that helps the psychology or not, Jimmy never weighed in on that one.

HOGS FEED:

WHAT THE HOGS SAID AFTER TUESDAY AFTERNOON'S PRACTICE

QUESTIONS REMAIN ON INTERIOR LINE ON BOTH SIDES FOR BALL FOR RAZORBACKS HEADED INTO OPENER

WILL DEPTH END UP BEING AN ISSUE FOR HOGS THIS YEAR?

SEC SHORTS TAKES THEIR TURN HAVING FUN WITH AUBURN

WATCH SAM PITTMAN'S PRESS CONFERENCE PREVIEWING OPENING AGAINST CINCINNATI

LAST YEAR'S NINE WINS MEANS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING THIS WEEK

WHO'S ON THE COACHING HOT SEAT HEADED INTO OPENING WEEK

WEEK 0 CREATES POTENTIAL FOR BIG MOVEMENT IN STATE HIGH SCHOOL RANKINGS

OPENING WITH A LOSS ACROSS THE ATLANTIC MAKES SCOTT FROST'S SEAT AT NEBRASKA REALLY HOT

AUBURN MAKING NEWS FOR WRONG REASONS, MORE MIKE LEACH GEMS

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