Northern Illinois sophomore quarterback Chandler Harnish, who missed last week's 27-22 win at Miami due to a knee injury, apparently had an arthroscopic procedure done on his knee last Tuesday.

"He had surgery," said Kill at his weekly press conference in DeKalb. "It's not a major thing. He will be back (this season). Optimistically, there's a chance this weekend."

Kill said Harnish made the trip to Miami last Saturday and did some backpedaling and made some throws in the pre-game warmup but that he hadn't run full speed yet.

Fullback Conor Flahive also missed the Miami game with a knee injury and both he and Harnish will be re-evaluated on Wednesday, the coach said.

Harnish was injured two weeks ago during the Toledo game on Northern's final drive. Kill said he played the final five or six plays with the injury.

The Huskie defense is not immune to injury woes.

Senior free safety David Bryant was hurt at Miami, suffering a knee injury that will keep him out two to four weeks on an apparent chop block.

His backup, Mike Sobol, was also dinged with an injury Kill would not reveal, but is expected to play at home against Akron this week.

"At one time we had three (defensive backs) on the sidelines with me and that's not good," said Kill, who said redshirt freshmen Jody Van Laanen (S), Tony Davis (CB) and Rashaan Melvin (CB) will have to step up.
"Jody did a good job (Saturday). He hadn't had hardly any reps and we were down to no safeties at one time but credit to Jody for being ready to play."

The team's defensive line has taken some hits, too, as redshirt freshman Brian Lawson (Rich East) was sidelined with a hand injury that required surgery. It forced Kill's defensive coaches to move senior Jake Coffman back and forth between noseguard and end. He responded with 2.5 sacks.

Kill also cited nice work by redshirt sophomore Ron Newcomb (Mt. Carmel).

"We're fortunate to have guys like him step up, he came out of nowhere," said Kill, "who lost senior tackle Mike Krause before the season started to a heart ailment.

"We should be awfully deep on the defensive line a year from now," the coach said.