UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni made it clear the day after a 35-20 loss to Pittsburgh that Johnny McEntee is still his starting quarterback, despite a truly awful first-half performance.

While McEntee, who has started every game for the Huskies this year, finished a respectable 17-for-33 for 193 yards and two TDs, most of that was accumulated in the second half when the game was already out of reach. He was 2-for-12 for 20 yards in the first half, including 10 ten straight incompletions.

Backup Scott McCummings ran his package of plays effectively, completing his only pass for nine yards while running for 23 yards.

Still, the coach isn't ready to turn the reins over to him or Mike Nebrich, who hasn't thrown a pass since the Buffalo game, just yet. Pasqualoni said during Thursday's teleconference he never considered benching McEntee.

"Johnny's clearly still the starter," Pasqualoni said. "There's competition at every position every day. What Scottie is doing is certainly productive. We're going to continue that development. In the big picture of things, Johnny handles the dropback aspect of it pretty well."

McEntee has done an admirable job this year, especially considering he is still a walk-on running an offense which graduated its best offensive linemen last year and features a 170-pound running back.

With the Huskies (3-5, 1-2 Big East) holding on for a bowl berth, McEntee seems to be the safe choice at quarterback heading into a stretch of three straight home games.

But if UConn officially drops out of postseason contention, it will be hard to ignore the clamoring for McCummings and/or Nebrich, both of whom bring the dual threats of running and passing to the position that McEntee doesn't.

With Masuk quarterback Casey Cochran planning to enroll at UConn in January, the quarterback position will only get cloudier. UConn knows what it has in McEntee. It makes sense to see what the Huskies have in McCummings and Nebrich at some point soon.