BUFFALO, NY - The Bulls head to Orlando this week to face the University of Central Florida Golden Knights in their Mid-American Conference road opener. UB has not played a game in the Sunshine State since 1994.

Both teams are looking for their first MAC victory - UB lost to Akron last week, while the Golden Knights fell to Kent State.

UCF has an overall record of 1-3, but Bulls' head coach Jim Hofher feels that may be misleading.

"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 at UB's weekly press conference on Tuesday. "They've played a pretty good schedule this year against some quality teams."

The Golden Knights lone victory this season came against Florida Atlantic, while they have suffered losses to Virginia Tech, Syracuse and Kent State.

"Obviously at this point, we haven't come close to meeting our expectations," said UCF head coach Mike Kruczek during Tuesday's MAC Teleconference. "We had quite a bit of attrition through the spring and the summer with academic disqualifications and injuries that have prevented people from playing - 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."

UCF is expected to play without standout quarterback Ryan Schneider, whose string of 34 consecutive starts is likely to end on Saturday. Schneider suffered a shoulder injury last week at Kent State.

Backup signal caller Jon Rivera is slated to start against Buffalo.

"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 arm."

Hofher echoes the sentiments of Kruczek.

"Jon 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. It's still going to be a challenge for us and we have to anticipate seeing the same offense from Central Florida."

P.J. Piskorik

Buffalo will start sophomore quarterback P.J. Piskorik (Swoyersville, PA/Wyoming Valley West) 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. He was the first UB quarterback to accomplish that feat since Randall Secky (Bemus Point, NY/Maple Grove) threw two touchdowns versus Kent State on October 26th, 2002.

One of those touchdowns was caught by wide receiver Matt Knueven (Cincinnati, OH/LaSalle), who has rebounded from an injury-plagued sophomore season to post some solid numbers this year. Along with the touchdown grab, Knueven had five catches for 63 yards last week. On the season, he has 16 receptions for 199 yards (12.4 yards per catch).

Mark Graham

Another impressive UB performance last week came from senior free safety Mark Graham (Monroe, MI/Monroe). Along with an interception, Graham also scooped up an Akron fumble and returned it 66 yards for a touchdown - something no Bulls' defender had done in 66 games, dating back to 1997.

Graham - who leads Buffalo with 42 tackles this season - is ranked 23rd in the MAC with 8.4 tackles per game. He is already UB's all-time leader in passes defended in a career with 35 and his 12 career interceptions are tied for fourth all-time at Buffalo.

Though the Bulls are still looking for their first victory of the season, Hofher is encouraged by the effort his team has played with.

"I've been heartened by a team's attitude and togetherness," said Hofher. "We've got to keep trying to make progress - whether it comes in inches, feet or yards. I'm certain at some point, that's really going to start to make a difference in our performance."

UB has never won a game in the four times it has squared off with Central Florida. The Golden Knights most recent victory over Buffalo came last season at UB Stadium by a 45-21 score.