Zips a shot in arm for Huskies

Akron dealing with more injury bugs than even NIU

DEKALB -- Good for what ails them.

They may be a bit banged up seven games into the season, but the Northern Illinois football team starts a three-game home stand Saturday that should be just what the doctor ordered. In visiting Akron, the Huskies face a team that's hurting even more.

The following two weeks, on successive Thursday nights, NIU entertains Eastern Michigan and Ball State. Those teams are bringing up the rear of the Mid-American Conference West standings.

While NIU backup quarterback DeMarcus Grady is likely to get his second straight start in place of fellow sophomore Chandler Harnish (knee), the Zips will counter with their third quarterback of the season in true freshman Patrick Nicely.

Northern Illinois senior safety David Bryant suffered a knee injury last week at Miami (Ohio) and will miss the game, and the Huskies remain thin on the defensive line. It could be worse, however.

The 2009 season for Akron coach J.D. Brookhart has unraveled much the same way NIU's 2007 season did for former coach Joe Novak, when the Huskies went 2-10. The Zips have lost 13 scholarship players for the remainder of the season, most because of injury.

Brookhart was forced to take the redshirt off Nicely after No. 1 Chris Jacquemain was dismissed from the team for a violation of team policy and No. 2 Matt Rodgers suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Two weeks ago, linebacker Aaron Williams played the final two and a half quarters against Buffalo with a broken arm. The same week Brookhart lost a senior wide receiver (Deryn Bowser) to a broken leg.

"We are just doing what we are doing, next guy in," Brookhart told the Akron Beacon Journal, explaining that his team continues to fight. "Their attitude is great."

Depth, or lack of it, is a growing problem for Akron. Senior Andre Jones has started on both sides of the ball this season, at safety, cornerback and wide receiver. And last week he took snaps at quarterback in the wildcat formation.

Despite their struggles, the Zips have been in their last three games, which resulted in losses to Syracuse (28-14), Buffalo (21-17) and Ohio (19-7).

Ten turnovers in those three losses killed their chances, although Nicely seems to be improving, and he's finally getting some help from redshirt freshman DeVoe Torrence, a 6-foot-1-inch, 215-pound tailback who has given some life to a struggling running game.

Grady was limited to 10 pass attempts (completing six for 60 yards) and ran 10 times for 55 yards but likely will work with a bigger playbook this week.

"You lose your No. 1 quarterback, it's not the same," NIU coach Jerry Kill said. "The game plan does change. You have to scale back because (the No. 2) is not used to doing everything. We got up 17-0 (against Miami) and there's no question we played a little bit conservatively."

Grady was bolstered by junior tailback Chad Spann's career-high 156 yards rushing, giving him 468 for the season. Sophomore Me'co Brown has 554 yards rushing.

Expect more of the same from a Huskies offense averaging 196 yards on the ground, tops in the MAC.