AMHERST - Brandon Yelovich is the University of Massachusetts football team's new starting place-kicker, but he could get some competition from Caleb Violette before long.

Yelovich, the senior transfer from Rice, supplanted redshirt sophomore Brendon Levengood, who missed two extra points in the loss to New Hampshire last week. Yelovich made a 22-yard field goal late in the game.

"Yelovich will kick extra points to start the game," UMass coach Kevin Morris said.

Violette, who has missed the entire season so far after being diagnosed with a broken foot on the first day of training camp, could return at some point. The Minuteman coaching staff had hoped he'd be eligible for a medical redshirt, but because he enrolled at Virginia Tech for a year before transferring to UMass, that seems unlikely even though he didn't play for the Hokies.

"We'll see where he is health wise," Morris said. "He still has a little bit of soreness. He can definitely help. All hands on deck."

While his team isn't eligible for the postseason, Morris has been calling each of the remaining regular season contests "playoff games" to help keep his players motivated.

"We're sticking to the message. We went down to Gillette, which is a great venue for a playoff game, and came out of the wrong end," Morris said. "We've got another opportunity for a playoff game this week down at Richmond."

Morris has been pleased with the way the Minutemen (4-3) have stayed focused this season.

"From the beginning, I've said I like this team and this group of kids,' Morris said. "They've stayed with it. They're not making enough plays in prime time. We're working on that and trying to get that squared away."

For all practical purposes, these are playoff games for the 3-4 Spiders. Richmond, which was ranked in the top 10 in September, likely needs to win all four of its remaining games to have a shot at the postseason.

It's been a tumultuous year for the Spiders. Coach Latrell Scott was dismissed before the season for his second driving while intoxicated offense. The team rallied around coach Wayne Lineburg and raced out of the gate with a 23-21 upset of Atlantic Coast Conference foe Duke followed by wins over Wagner and Virginia Military Institute.

But the CAA hasn't been kind to Richmond as three of the four losses have been by tight margins. New Hampshire edged the Spiders 45-43. After JMU dominated Richmond 31-7, the Spiders lost on a last second field goal by Towson and then blew a 16-point lead to Maine.

COLONIAL CUSTODIES - Despite having far fewer fans than most New England Patriots games, last week's Colonial Clash produced more police custodies according to a story in the Attleboro Sun Chronicle. There were 64 custodies at the game compared to 48 at the last Patriots game. Ten of the 16 criminal arrests were minors in possession of alcohol and another was for providing alcohol to a minor. There were 48 fans taken into protective custody for intoxication.

Beer, which is only available to certain fan groups at McGuirk Stadium, is sold at concession stands at Gillette. UMass will host five home games in Foxborough next year.

NOTE - The Halloween weekend pits four different Minuteman teams against the Spiders as the men's and women's soccer teams and the field hockey team, in addition to football, all play Richmond.

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.