Riding the nation's longest losing streak after dropping 15 straight games, the UB Bulls (0-5, 0-1) travel to sunny Orlando to challenge the University of Central Florida Golden Knights (1-3, 0-1) in Mid-American Conference football action at the Florida Citrus Bowl.
Saturday's game will be the fifth time that the schools have met, with UCF owning a perfect 4-0 record against UB, while averaging 49.5 points per game.
Last week, the state of Ohio owned both teams, with UB dropping a 38-21 decision at home to Akron while UCF committed eight turnovers in a 36-16 loss at Kent State.
Despite the struggles endured by the Golden Knights this season, Bulls' head coach Jim Hofher said UCF's record might be deceptive.
"We have another terrific challenge this week against a team that has always been explosive offensively and has always had very athletic players on defense," said Hofher. "They've played a pretty good schedule this year against some quality teams."
UCF suffered losses to powerhouse Virginia Tech, Syracuse and Kent State, with the lone victory coming against Florida Atlantic.
"Obviously at this point, we haven't come close to meeting our expectations," said UCF head coach Mike Kruczek in a Monday teleconference. "We had quite a bit of attrition through the spring and the summer ... this isn't the team that I thought we would have back in the winter. However, we've still had enough talent to be better than 1-3 at this time."
Kruczek will be relying on the talents of junior backup quarterback Jon Rivera to lead the way for the Golden Knights against the Bulls. Kruczek named Rivera the starter after standout starting quarterback Ryan Schneider suffered a shoulder injury last week at Kent State.
Saturday's game will snap a 34-game starting streak for Schneider, the third longest stretch in UCF history.
Prior to the injury, Schneider had thrown for eight touchdowns and averaged 295.8 yards per game. He is the nation's active leader in touchdowns, with 77 career touchdown passes. While Schneider is one of the nations top pocket passers, Rivera gives the UCF attack the added dimension of a running quarterback.
"We've got a couple of very talented young quarterbacks that have played behind Ryan for the last couple of years-people just don't know about them," Kruczek said. "They haven't had the reps or the game experience, but I think they are very talented. Jon Rivera is the kind of quarterback that gives us the flexibility to do things with his legs, as well as his arms."
Rivera ran for 20 yards on five carries last week at Kent State and finished 3-of-4 passing for 36 yards and an interception.
Hofher is not taking the replacement Rivera lightly either.
"Joe Rivera has played-this is not some run of the mill backup," said Hofher. "He has had a lot of practice and has been in games. We're talking about a guy that has as much experience as what you could hope for in that situation."
Despite the change in quarterback, Hofher expects no letdown in the UCF offense.
"It's still going to be a challenge for us and we have to anticipate seeing the same offense from Central Florida," said Hofher. "You've got to think they're going to do what they practice."
To compliment Rivera on offense, UCF will need the experience of receiver Tavaris Capers, who currently ranks fourth in the nation in catches with 36, and leads the team in receiving yards per game with 75.75.
On defense, Kruczek will rely upon the efforts of strong safety Atari Bigby, a mainstay in the Knight defense. Bigby leads his team with 48 solo tackles.
For the Bulls, Hofher will start sophomore quarterback P.J. Piskorik for the third straight week.
"Last week, P.J. made improvements from his first start," said Hofher. "There's still plenty of room for improvement - there are things he handled better and there are things he needs to keep working on. We were able to find a way to have a little more success passing the ball, as we increased our efficiency in terms of completions and we got on the board in terms of passing touchdowns."
Last week, Piskorik threw for two touchdowns against Akron, one of them caught by UB wide receiver Matt Knueven. Knueven has reestablished himself as a force in Buffalo's offense this season, gaining 63 yards on five catches against Akron to raise his season totals to 16 receptions for 199 yards (12.4 yards per catch).
"He is more comfortable with play calling and the offense," Knueven said of Piskorik.
Besides the passing game, UB will also look to the rushing offense for success against UCF. Buffalo is averaging 166.2 yards per game on the ground, and ranks 47th in the nation. Although it has not yet translated into victories for the Bulls, five different backs have combined for 707 yards rushing and five touchdowns on 146 carries (4.8 yards per carry).
Sophomore Aaron Leeper leads the Bulls with 48.8 rushing yards per game, good for 16th in the MAC.
The game is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday in the Citrus Bowl.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
