Temple football players get a break while waiting for bowl bid

You'll be hard-pressed to find a Temple football player working out at Edberg-Olson Hall for a couple of days.

The Owls are off until Friday or Saturday while waiting for an expected bowl invitation.

"I'm going to give them a little time off this week, because we never had a real bye week," said Temple first-year coach Steve Addazio, whose Owls (8-4) are expected to make their second bowl appearance in three seasons.

Temple will find out its bowl fate on or before Dec. 4.

"And we will put together our schedule for that," Addazio said. "But they need to not be involved in football for a week. Maybe a little lifting and jogging, but not football for a week."

Instead, he said, their focus should be on academics.

Perhaps, but one can only assume the Owls will also think about an anticipated bowl invitation.

The Kraft Fight Hunger, Gildan New Mexico, or the Famous Idaho Potato bowls appear to be likely destinations for Temple.

The New Mexico and Potato Bowls are set for Dec. 17, while the Fight Hunger Bowl will be played Dec. 31.

The Potato Bowl will be played at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho. The New Mexico Bowl will be played at University Stadium in Albuquerque, N.M. And the Fight Hunger Bowl will be played at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

The Owls were considered long shots to receive an invitation after back-to-back losses to Bowling Green and Ohio earlier this month.

Since then, Temple won its final three regular-season games. The Owls beat their final two opponents - Army and Kent State - by an average of 23 points.

Notes. With eight victories, Addazio has the most wins by a first-year head coach at Temple. . . . The Owls' senior class has 30 career victories, the most by a Temple class.