"Because of our lack of depth, because of our injuries from training camp, I had backed off. I tried to preserve our team and try to keep them as healthy as I could and get to the game. That didn't prove to work out so well and I felt that kind of set back our growth as a young football team because we were more in preservation than we were in development."
Penn State, coming off its first victory of the season, against Navy, has not lost to Temple since 1941. The Nittany Lions own a 37-3-1 series advantage over the Owls. Addazio, however, wants to focus on the game at hand, not the records that accompany the rivalry.
"We approach this game like every other game," Addazio said. "You're going in there, you're going into a hornets' nest against a really good football team.
"I've watched them on tape and their defense is really strong, every bit as strong as it was a year ago. Penn State's going to have great players and they're going to play hard and they're going to have playmakers on offense, and I think they've looked terrific in terms of their scheme. We approach it just like that.
"And what we're going to do is keep working hard and developing and we're going to go in there and play as hard as we can play, and that's our mind-set, not what the stats are, not how many years it's been, it doesn't mean anything to me. Because when we go into that stadium, every guy's going to have to buckle his chin strap and it's going to be one guy against one guy, 11 against 11, and that's what it is."
Addazio knows his team once again will be the underdog.
"We are always the underdog," Addazio said. "So it's a great opportunity for us to go in there and do the best we can against a great football team and take our shots and play real hard. Our kids love it, our fans love it, and it's a good chance to match ourselves up. We look forward to that game, it's going to be a great game and we've enjoyed the series."
