Iowa State coach Dan McCarney feels an off-week has come at a perfect time for his team. The Cyclones are coming off a 40-21 loss to Iowa, their first since 1997, and return top action a week from Saturday at Northern Illinois. McCarney hopes the time off allows some injured players to heal, including offensive tackle Bob Montgomery and punter Tony Yelk. McCarney says there are several other players that have a chance to come back too, but he says others are day-to-day.Iowa State’s offensive line struggled against Iowa and McCarney says that unit must get better. McCarney says getting Montgomery back will immediately improve the line but he says they can’t count on that and have to work to get better.McCarney says they will try to use the off week to emphasize technique. He says they’ll keep the off week similar to the past and will work a lot against each other with a little preparation for the next game.Chris Love played late in Saturday’s game in relief of Austin Flynn but McCarney says that does not mean Love has earned the back-up job over Waye Terry. He says Love’s strength is throwing the ball and that’s what they needed to do at that point in the game.