Choose whatever extremely hyperbolic descriptions for Rutgers’ past two weeks as you see fit.
Annihilation. Evisceration. Humiliation. They all work. Ohio State beat the Scarlet Knights 58-0 on Oct. 1. Michigan routed the Scarlet Knights 78-0 in prime time on Oct. 8. That reads 136-0 on the scoreboard and shows Rutgers is a long way from even thinking about being a serious contender in the Big Ten. But …
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It could be worse. Yes, we’re serious. It has been worse. It was worse last year, and it will get better under first-year coach Chris Ash.
"We're extremely disappointed in the outcome of our last two football games,” Ash said on the Big Ten teleconference Tuesday. “Obviously, very lopsided losses for us and our team. It's not what we expect. It’s not what we practice for, but it happened."
Yeah, it happened. Easy-in, easy-out Rutgers bashing followed.
They don’t belong in the Big Ten. They should get kicked out of the Big Ten. They are an embarrassment to the Big Ten. They were annihilated, eviscerated, humiliated.
It doesn’t matter if they belong or not. Rutgers is in the Big Ten for the TV money. That’s not going to change. It isn't going to get kicked out of the Big Ten, either. It’s not going to happen.
As for embarrassment — as bad as those losses are — it was much worse last year. Multiple player arrests and an academic scandal involving former coach Kyle Flood led to a houseecleaning. The Scarlet Knights have a new athletic director in Patrick Hobbs, too. It’s a lot like the rebuild for Illinois, this week’s opponent.
Plus, a football embarrassment in the Big Ten is a relative term on the field. Minnesota last played in the Rose Bowl in 1962. Indiana’s last visit was 1968. Even Iowa broke a 25-year drought last year. All of those schools have endured more than a few blowouts at the hands of Ohio State and Michigan, too.
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"I don't sugarcoat it with our players,” Ash said. “We have to do a better job coaching in big games like that against really good teams, and we have to get our players to play better in big games like that.”
The blowout loss to Michigan had other not-so-subtle undertones — as in, top Michigan recruits Jabrill Peppers and Rashan Gary are from Paramus Catholic in New Jersey. The top player in New Jersey for the Class of 2017 is Drew Singleton, from, you guessed it, Paramus Catholic. Jim Harbaugh has done an excellent job recruiting in New Jersey, and his use of satellite camps in the area created a stir. Paramus Catholic even played a game in the Big House this season.
That’s part of the challenge for Ash, who served as a defensive coordinator for Urban Meyer at Ohio State before taking the Rutgers job. The Mid-Atlantic is an excellent recruiting ground, and according to 247Sports team rankings, Rutgers is at No. 27. The Scarlet Knights were a doormat for years in the Big East, but they did make a bowl game nine of the last 11 seasons.
Most of that is seemingly wiped away at the hands of the Buckeyes and Wolverines.
"Our morale continues to be high,” Ash said. “It was shaken a little bit on Sundays, as you can imagine, after the losses we encountered on the last few Saturdays.”
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That’s why Ash emphasized the start to the “second season.” Those double-barrel beatdowns should serve as a lesson, perhaps to some of those in-state recruits. In-state pride isn’t a problem at Ohio State and Michigan. That kind of attitude is necessary for success in the Big Ten. They showed Rutgers 136 reasons why the last two weeks. Can Ash get the in-state recruits to rally around state pride?
So Rutgers can either try to compete with that, or it can be an occupied province that Ohio State and Michigan plunder at their leisure. That’s what happened the last two weeks. That’s the other part of the challenge for Ash.
It could be worse. It has been worse. Show some patience with Ash, and it will get better.
"There's a lot of that we talked about,” he said. “What we try to do is build on the positives from those games. We've got to keep moving forward.”
