"The key here is, I always felt on a bye week, you always want to get a jump on your opponent," Owls coach Steve Addazio said. "You want to get some fundamentals. You want to work with the young, young players. With your older players, you want to make sure they are healthy."
The one thing Temple won't do, Addazio said, is have a knee-jerk reaction to Saturday's loss. With the Owls already lacking depth, the coaching staff realizes that a week of grinding practices would be counterproductive.
"But I will take advantage of the extra time to get some fundamentals," Addazio said.
Don't be surprised if true freshman Khalif Herbin and redshirt freshman John Christopher have larger roles after the bye week. They could be looked upon to help an ineffective receiving corps.
Temple's top returning receiver, Dean Miller, who is overcoming a viral infection, still is looking for his first reception of the season. C.J. Hammond's lone reception was a 62-yard touchdown against the Terps. However, he had his share of dropped passes in the first two games.
Meanwhile, junior wideout Ryan Alderman's only two receptions came against Maryland.
"Most teams are going to put eight guys in the box to stop our run," Hammond said. "It's going to be on us to make more plays. So for this bye week, we have to focus on getting our passing game going a little bit more."
The week off also will give running backs Matt Brown and Montel Harris more time to heal. Brown was held to 31 yards on 10 carries while playing with a sprained ankle Saturday. He had 145 yards in the season opener against Villanova.
Harris sat out the Maryland game while nursing a sore hamstring.
"Monday, we are going to come in and watch the tape," Addazio said of this week's schedule. "Probably won't do anything physical on Monday."
The Owls will get back to work Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, he said, "and assess at that point and see where we are."
McManus earns award. Temple placekicker/punter Brandon McManus earned his second consecutive College Football Performance Awards' specialist-of-the-week honorable mention on Sunday. The senior made field goals of 36 and 40 yards in Saturday's loss to extend his Owls career record of made field goals to 50. The North Penn High product also averaged 47.8 yards on five punts.
Contact Keith Pompey at 215-854-2939 or kpompey@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @pompeysgridlock. Read his blog, "Owls Inq," at www.philly.com/owlsinq
