Sam Pittman explains the value of getting a mental break during bye week

Bye weeks are commonly seen as a great physical break for players, but Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman recently spoke about the mental break they provide for players and coaches alike. The Razorbacks just finished their own bye week, and could definitely use it mentally after their rollercoaster first half of the season. Arkansas started the season 3-0, then lost their next three games in a row putting them at 3-3, and secured a win over BYU right before their bye week to put them a game above .500.

“I think rest a lot of times puts things in perspective, you’re not running running running, you’re looking at okay here’s where we are, this is what we’ve done, this is where we can get to,” Pittman said.

Mental rest is important to take advantage of for athletes whenever they can get it, but Pittman wanted to make sure his players didn’t get too much, as their next opponent in Auburn is also coming off of a bye week of their own.

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“We tried not to rest them mentally as far as prep, mental prep, film, walks, things of that nature for Auburn, but obviously when your body slows down your mind does too,” Pittman said.

It sounds like the Razorbacks found a healthy balance of rest and preparation during their bye week, and hopefully it pays off for them, as they try to turn around their 1-3 conference starting this Saturday on the road against the Tigers.

“So hopefully, we’ve got the perfect remedy for the guys to kind of go down a little bit, relax a little bit because we know we have a hard five-game stretch coming up,” Pittman said.

Sam Pittman discusses the keys to slowing down Robby Ashford, Tank Bigsby

Arkansas and Auburn will both be well rested and ready to go this week, as both teams are fresh off of their bye week’s headed into their Saturday showdown. The last time the Tigers were in action, they had their best offensive output since their week one win over Mercer in a 48-34 loss to a then-ranked No. 9 Ole Miss team. Auburn’s offensive attack is fueled by quarterback Robby Ashford and running back Tank Bigsby, who Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman discussed ahead of Saturday.

“Well Robby’s their second-leading rusher, some of those are designed runs, which he’s very good at, and then obviously the part of getting outside the pocket and running, which we’re very concerned about that,” Pittman said.

Ashford is a dual-threat quarterback who transferred to Auburn this year from Oregon, and for the Tigers this season has run for 310 yards and thrown for 1,014. He was particularly effective with legs against Ole Miss, where he found the end zone twice on the ground on red zone plays and carried the ball 15 times for the Tigers.

“But he’s got a strong arm, but he’s most dangerous when you have the receivers covered downfield and he takes off, I mean he’s really dangerous doing that,” Pittman said.

The Tiger’s offense also features Bigsby, a former SEC freshman of the year award winner who has established himself as one of the most consistent tailbacks in the conference.

“Bigsby, I think probably last week, he showed who he really is and they opened up against Ole Miss,” Pittman said. “A lot of holes for him and he made a lot of good runs out of that.”

Bigbsy is fresh off of a monster performance against the Rebels, where recorded his eleventh career 100-plus yard rushing day, ending the game with 179 yards on the ground and two rushing touchdowns. He’s an effective downhill runner that Pittman and the Razorbacks know they must slow down before he gets going.

“But I’ve always liked Bigsby, I think he’s a really really good player and breaks a lot of tackles and that’s the emphasis this week is trying to get him down before he gets started. Because if they can get him three to four yards on his own, he’s hard to bring down, and so we need to get him close to the line of scrimmage as possible,” Pittman said.