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BUFFALO, NY - Still in search of their first victory of the season, the Bulls host the powerhouse rushing attack of the Ohio Bobcats at UB Stadium this Saturday. The Bobcats come in with an overall mark of 2-5 and a Mid-American Conference record of 1-2, but rank second in the MAC and 15th in the nation with an average of 200.1 rushing yards per game.

Coach Jim Hofher

"They are the best Ohio University team that I've seen since I've been coaching at UB," said Bulls' head coach Jim Hofher during Monday's MAC teleconference. "They play hard and physical across the board. They are a tremendous challenge to our football team - there is no doubt about it."

It remains unclear as to who will start at quarterback on Saturday for the Bobcats. The latest version of the Ohio depth chart indicates either senior Fred Ray or true freshman Austen Everson will get the nod.

Ray - who leads the Bobcats with both 337 yards rushing and 494 yards passing - has had a right shoulder injury that has kept him out of action the past two weeks.

Everson has stepped in and performed well, completing 14-of-22 passes for 265 yards, including two touchdowns passing and three rushing. He picked up MAC East Offensive Player of the Week honors in his first career start two weeks ago versus Central Florida.

Another threat for Ohio is running back Ray Huston, who caught a 58-yard touchdown pass from Everson last week in the Bobcats' loss at Kentucky.

"Ray Huston has made some big catches throughout his career for us," said Ohio head coach Brian Knorr during the MAC teleconference. "He gives us flexibility at the running back position - he also does a great job blocking. It's well documented that he is one of the fastest players on our team. We have the opportunity to do a lot of things with him because of his versatility."

The Bulls - who are 0-4 at home this season - will look to put forth an effort similar to what they did last week in a heartbreaking 26-16 loss to Marshall.

"There were positive signs in that game," Hofher said. "But the mark of good players and good teams is to play well - again and again - over a long period of time. We have to come out and be able to do that again."

J.J. Gibson

Junior defensive back J.J. Gibson (Buffalo, NY/Sweet Home) paced the UB defense last week, recording three sacks. He also moved into sixth place on the Bulls' all-time solo tackles list with 142 in his career.

"Our defense was very opportunistic and executed very well in many cases against Marshall," said Hofher. "J.J. was in the right place at the right time - there's no doubt about it. He's an important cog in our defense. When everybody does what they are supposed to do and they do it on time, than those types of performances can happen."

Chris McDuffie

From an offensive and special teams perspective, redshirt freshman running back Chris McDuffie (Amherst, NY/Williamsville North) posted impressive numbers for Buffalo. Not only did he record his first career touchdown, he also recovered a fumble on special teams for the second consecutive week.

Mark Graham

McDuffie - whose two fumble recoveries have him tied for the team lead in that category with Mark Graham (Monroe, MI/Monroe) - finished with 33 rushing yards last week, including his one-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

One of the most important aspects of this Saturday's game for UB may be converting on third downs. This season, UB has converted on just 30-of-121 third downs (24.8 percent) - the lowest percentage in the MAC. Meanwhile, Buffalo's opponents have converted 43-of-102 third downs (42.2 percent).

During Hofher's tenure in Buffalo, the Bulls have a 4-2 record when converting 40 percent or better on third downs. This season, UB has not reached that platform in any of its contests.

Notably, one of those four victories when converting better than 40 percent on third downs came during the 2001 season versus Ohio. In that match-up, UB picked up 9-of-15 third downs (60.0 percent), while holding the Bobcats to zero conversions on 12 third downs.

That 2001 meeting at UB Stadium resulted in a 44-0 win for the Buffalo - the most lopsided Bulls' win in the history of the nine-meeting series between the two schools.

"We have 30 players on our team that were on that trip," Knorr said. "They thoroughly outplayed us in every phase of the game two years ago."

Last season however, the Bobcats responded by kicking a game-winning field goal with just 10 seconds remaining to post a 34-32 home victory over Buffalo. Ohio holds a 6-3 edge in the all-time series.