University of Massachusetts football coach Kevin Morris did not hesitate on Monday's Colonial Athletic Association conference call.

"Kyle Havens will continue to be our starter," Morris said. "We need to continue to get better at the quarterback position."

It was the second straight week that Morris faced questions about quarterbacks.

The Minuteman coach switched signal-callers again after Havens turned the ball over twice and was ineffective in the first half of Saturday's 19-9 loss at Maine. But senior Scott Woodward, who played well in relief in the 34-12 loss Oct. 24 at No. 1 Richmond, couldn't seize his opportunity and threw three interceptions in the second half.

Only Morris knows if a better showing by Woodward might have earned the senior his first career start this week when the Minutemen (4-4, 2-3 CAA) host Northeastern at noon Saturday.

Instead, Morris went back to Havens hoping the junior college transfer could rediscover the form that made him look so promising when UMass started 3-1 in September.

The first concern for Morris is beating Northeastern (1-7, 1-4 CAA) and trying finish the season at 7-4 to give the Minutemen a chance in case a team with that record goes to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. Morris believes that Havens gives him the best chance to get there.

But another reason to pick Havens, who has struggled since September, is to get a better read on him for the future. A year from now - with Woodward graduated - UMass will have just Havens, Octavious Hawkins and walk-on Jesse Hunt as quarterbacks on the roster.

Hunt is not an option. He was not on the roster to start the season, but was added as a scout team player when Spencer Whipple transferred.

The coaching staff has shown no signs of looking at Hawkins as a future starter, either. He was dropped from this year's competition to be the starter early in the preseason and was recently added to kickoff coverage on special teams, which is not usually a place to find future starting quarterbacks. If the coaching staff thought he was an answer, Hawkins likely would have gotten a chance to prove it over the past two weeks.

And even if Havens shines in November, UMass needs to sign a quarterback in the offseason. It would make sense for the Minutemen to bring in a freshman who could redshirt next year and compete to start in 2011.

But how Havens plays over the next three games could determine whether the coaching staff believes UMass can win with him. If not, they would likely be looking for a transfer from a Bowl Subdivision school or perhaps a junior college for next season.

DUBIOUS DISTINCTION - With 19 interceptions against the Minutemen this season, UMass is ranked second to last in that category among 238 teams in all of Division I football. Only Towson (23 interceptions) has been picked off more than the Minutemen.

GAME OF WEEK: Villanova at Richmond, 3:30 p.m. - Forget the week, this is the best game of the season in the CAA as both teams are playing for seeding in the Championship Subdivision playoffs.

FBS POLL POSITIONING - After spending most of the season atop the Championship Subdivision, Richmond received a vote in the Bowl Subdivision top 25 from Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle. The Spiders are tied for 12th with South Carolina and Temple in the also receiving votes section of the poll. Richmond is the third FCS team ever to get a vote in the poll. The Associated Press has allowed FCS teams to get votes since September 2007.

FCS POLL POSITIONING - For just the second week since 2005, the UMass football team is not ranked in the top 25. Saturday's loss to Maine bounced the Minutemen from both The Sports Network and coaches polls. The Minutemen peaked at No. 12 (Sports Network) and No. 13 (coaches) on Oct. 5 after going 3-1 in September. But UMass has gone 1-3 since.

The Minutemen are fourth among teams also receiving votes in The Sports Network poll, and seventh in the coaches.

THE CAA's top four teams - No. 1 Richmond, No. 4 Villanova, No. 5 William & Mary and New Hampshire (No. 7 coaches, No. 8 Sports Network) held their respective spots in the rankings.

Delaware fell to No. 23 in The Sports Network poll and No. 25 in the coaches.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK - James Madison redshirt freshman quarterback Justin Thorpe had a breakout game while dealing Delaware's postseason hopes a damaging blow. He earned CAA offensive player of the week honors after passing for 262 yards (11-for-15) and a touchdown and rushing for 42 yards and another TD in Dukes' 20-8 win over the Blue Hens.

His teammate Chase Williams was the league's rookie of the week with 11 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Maine sophomore linebacker Donte Dennis had 11 tackles, two interceptions and a fumble recovery against the Minutemen to earn defensive player of the week honors.

And William & Mary punter David Miller averaged 48.7 yards on six punts including a 71-yarder in the fourth quarter in a 39-14 win at Rhode Island.

Information from personal interviews, newspaper articles and sports information releases was used in this report.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.