It was a light-hearted postgame press conference for the NIU football team, considering it had just lost its top two running backs. But with Adrian Davis waiting in the wings, there was no need to worry.

The third-string senior running back stepped in to run for 73 yards on 12 carries after starting running back Garrett Wolfe and backup A.J. Harris went down with injuries in the Huskies’ 24-8 victory over Eastern Michigan on Saturday.

All of Davis’ yards came on the Huskies’ final two drives of the game, which allowed them to run down the clock and seal the team’s third victory of the season.

The exact extent of Wolfe’s knee and Harris’ shoulder injury were not known, but NIU coach Joe Novak didn’t seem optimistic.

“It doesn’t look good for the immediate future for Garrett, and for A.J the same thing,” Novak said following the game. “We do have some depth [at running back] and with our offense we need to. Our kids have a lot of confidence in Adrian.”

Whatever happens with Wolfe and Harris, though, Davis said he will be ready to step in.

“I’ve been here for a while and watched the game a lot and seen people get hurt, so I’ve been here before,” Davis said.

Even with its top two running backs healthy, the Huskies’ offense stumbled for most of the game.

NIU put up 14 points in its first three drives but managed only 10 the rest of the way.

NIU quarterback Phil Horvath, who was ranked fourth in the nation in passing efficiency coming into the game, also struggled at times. Horvath’s first pass of the day was picked off by linebacker Daniel Holtzclaw, who intercepted Horvath again in the third quarter.

Horvath ended the day completing 15-of-23 passes for a season-low 114 yards and one touchdown.

The NIU defense, however, was unusually sharp and allowed just two field goals. Horvath was called for intentional grounding in the end zone in the fourth quarter to give EMU its final two points.

Despite his team’s low point total Eastern Michigan coach Jeff Genyk did not think the NIU defense did anything differently.

“Their defense did exactly what they’ve done the last four weeks and that’s frustrating,” Genyk said. “They didn’t do anything special.”

Junior linebacker Keenan Blalark led the Huskies with 10 tackles. Twin junior cornerbacks Alvah and Adriel Hansbro came up with big plays of their own.

Alvah picked off EMU quarterback Matt Bohnet in the third quarter, while Adriel broke up a fade pass on fourth down in the fourth quarter and appeared to intercept the pass. After replay it was ruled an incompletion.

“We kept telling ourselves that [our defense] was saving us,” Horvath said. “We put them in a real tough spot and they stepped up.”

The Huskies allowed a season-low 173 yards of total offense.