AMHERST - University of Massachusetts senior fullback Chris Zardas does not know if finishing 7-4 would be enough to earn the Minuteman a spot in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, but he does know that anything worse than 7-4 would certainly keep the team out.

"If we don't win this game, we don't have to worry about it at all," said Zardas, who believes a strong effort against Northeastern at noon Saturday would give UMass a lift.

"We're just focused on coming out and winning this one," he added. "This is the most important game of the season right now. We're coming off two tough ones. To get a nice big win and play well on both sides of the ball to get back on track would be great."

The game was supposed to feature a match up of Thellen vs. Thellen.

But a shoulder injury to Husky junior defensive back Nate Thellen ruined a matchup with the Minutemen's redshirt freshman defensive back Darren Thellen, his younger brother.

"I was looking forward all season to playing against my brother," Darren Thellen said. "It stinks that he's hurt."

Time & location: Noon, Saturday, McGuirk Stadium

Records: UMass 4-4, 2-3 Colonial Athletic Association; Northeastern is 1-7, 1-4 CAA

Last week: UMass lost 19-9 at Maine; Northeastern fell to New Hampshire 48-21

All-time series: UMass leads 29-8-1.

Last year: UMass won 28-24 at Parsons Field

TV: None

Radio: WRNX-FM (100.9), WMUA-FM (91.1)

Internet broadcast: Links can be found at umassathletics.com

When Northeastern has the ball: The Huskies are dead last in the CAA in scoring offense, averaging just 14.8 points per game.

Northeastern running back John Griffin is third in the CAA in rushing average with 82.1 yards per game.

Injuries and ineffectiveness have force the Huskies to use two quarterbacks - Matt Carroll and Alex Dulski - regularly this season. They have combined to average 158 yards passing per game. Carroll has six touchdown passes and five interceptions, while Dulski has been picked off five times and thrown three TD passes.

When UMass has the ball: The Minutemen are hoping to put their recent turnover struggles behind them.

"If we hold onto the rock we'll be all right," coach Kevin Morris said. "I'm happy with a lot of things we're doing. We just have to eliminate the turnovers."

Morris has had a quick hook with quarterback Kyle Havens who has struggled in the past two games with five interceptions.

If he falters again, senior Scott Woodward could be summoned for the third straight week.

Northeastern could be a good team to get back on track against because the Huskies are at the bottom of the CAA in scoring defense, giving up an average of 37 points per game.

UMass hopes that tailbacks Jonathan Hernandez and Tony Nelson are close to full strength as Northeastern is particularly vulnerable against the run, giving up a league-worst 205.1 yards per game and 23 touchdowns on the ground.

Notable: UMass is 2-0 this season against schools where Morris formerly worked as the Minutemen defeated both Albany and Stony Brook. Morris was the offensive coordinator at Northeastern from 2000-03.

Senior kicker Armando Cuko needs one field goal to tie the school record of 16 in a single season.

He needs three field goals to tie Silvio Bonvini's UMass record of 30 career field goals.

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.