BUFFALO, NY - After one week on the road, Buffalo returns home this week to face the Northern Illinois Huskies - who are ranked 23rd nationally in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls. UB has a home mark of 1-4 this season, with its lone victory being a 26-17 win over Ohio two weeks ago. The Bulls are looking to win back-to-back home games for the first time since consecutively defeating Morgan State and Canisius during the 1998 season.

Meanwhile, Northern Illinois has gone 2-1 on the road, including an early season, 19-16 victory at Alabama. The Huskies are now attempting to extend their winning streak to two games following a 48-23 dismantling of Ball State. Northern Illinois (4-1 MAC) is currently tied with Bowling Green (4-1 MAC) and Toledo (4-1 MAC) in the chase for the MAC West Division title.

The Huskies enter the game with a potent rushing attack, led by Heisman candidate Michael Turner, whose 126.9 rushing yards per game are tops in the MAC and fourth-best in the country.

Coach Jim Hofher

"Michael Turner is an exceptional running back nationally - let alone in our own conference," said Bulls' head coach Jim Hofher during Tuesday's weekly UB press conference. "He is a superstar player who makes plays, but there's more to their team than just that - there's no secret as to why they've had a really good football season so far and become one of the superior teams in the West Division of the MAC."

Turner's prowess is one of the primary reasons for Northern Illinois' amazing numbers in the "Red Zone" - the area from the defensive team's 20-yard line to the end zone. The Huskies have scored points in every one of their 34 trips inside the "Red Zone" (23 touchdowns and 11 field goals).

The Huskies remain as just another stellar opponent on UB's schedule this season. According to NCAA statistics prior to Wednesday night's games, Buffalo has had the toughest schedule in the MAC this season and the 14th-most difficult in the nation. The Bulls' opponents (past and future) have a combined record of 56-39 (.589 win %).

Despite the differences in their current records, many comparisons have arisen between the Huskies and Bulls. Joe Novak - now in his eighth season as the head coach at Northern Illinois - had only three wins during his first three years as head coach of the Huskies. Now, he has them ranked 23rd in the nation.

"I really do see some similarities (between Buffalo and the rebuilding process we went through)," said Novak during Monday's MAC teleconference. "I'm not just saying this because you are supposed to - I've got a lot of respect for Coach Hofher. I know where he's been and I know the people he's worked with. Everybody that I know that knows him speaks so highly of him.

"I see more skill on the field, I see more athleticism and I think they are obviously well coached. I think this team is getting nothing but better and in a year or two they are going to be a real fine football team."

While Hofher also sees similarities, he was more hesitant to jump to any conclusions.

"I think time will tell for us," Hofher said regarding the comparison. "Northern Illinois has certainly been the poster team for everybody in America, I suppose, in terms of development and improvement over an eight-year period. It has been steady and consistent."

Dallas Pelz

One of the Bulls who has contributed the most in recent weeks has been senior kicker Dallas Pelz (Holland, NY/St. Francis). He has added conference and national accolades to an already impressive list of accomplishments in the wake of his record-breaking performance on Saturday at Toledo.

Pelz earned the MAC East Special Teams Player of the Week award for the second straight week and also claimed a spot as one of the Lou Groza Award's Top Three Stars of the Week after booting a school-record five field goals in the Bulls' loss at Toledo.

"I felt really good in warmups and I was definitely pretty confident going out there," said Pelz at UB's Tuesday press conference. "I feel really comfortable out there now. I've slowed my leg swing down a lot - I'm not rushing at the ball. You definitely get into a zone where you feel really comfortable."

For the season, Pelz has now made nine straight field goals and is 12-of-15 (80.0%) overall - and hasn't missed from inside 40 yards. He is also a perfect 12-for-12 on extra points.

Mississippi's Jonathan Nichols and Washington State's Drew Dunning are the only other kickers in the nation - along with Pelz - to have a pair of games with four or more field goals.

Matt Knueven

Offensively, UB got a big week out of junior wide receiver Matt Knueven (Cincinnati, OH/LaSalle) at Toledo. He caught a career-high eight passes and finished with 101 yards - the second 100-yard receiving game of his career.

Knueven ranks 18th in the MAC with both 3.6 receptions per game and 49.6 receiving yards per game. Overall this season, he has 36 grabs for 496 yards (13.8 yards per reception), including two touchdowns.

Chris McDuffie

The Bulls also got solid performances out of running backs Chris McDuffie (Amherst, NY/Williamsville North) and Jared Patterson (Belvidere, NJ/Belvidere) last week. McDuffie set career bests in rushing yards (62), carries (15), receiving yards (20) and catches (five) during his second career start. Patterson scored the first two touchdowns of his career and also set a new career high with 39 rushing yards.

Jared Patterson

This will be the fifth match-up between the Bulls and Huskies, with Northern Illinois holding a 3-1 record over UB in the series. The only previous meeting in Buffalo came during the 1999 season and resulted in a 45-21 Huskies' victory.

"You might say there's potential (to look past Buffalo), but I don't think we're going to," Novak said. "I know this - we haven't played them for a couple of years, but they are a lot more athletic than they've been (in the past). They've got some skill and they are scoring points.

"They are a much improved and young football team that Jim (Hofher) has playing real hard. We're going to have to go up there and play well. We don't dare overlook anybody."

-UB weekly football previews are compiled by Geoff Nason.