Rutgers football hasn't been bad for the Big Ten. Rutgers football has been bad for Rutgers.
After ducking major punishment from the NCAA Committee on Infractions on Friday, maybe Rutgers can start being good for something.
The program did get hit with a few penalties, including "failure to monitor over a five-year period" and two years of probation. There's no bowl ban or scholarship reductions. That's the best news. This allows Chris Ash and the current regime to move on from the constant barrage of bad headlines that typified the end of the Kyle Flood era at Rutgers.
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The Rutgers bashing hasn't stopped, but it's misplaced. We've been over the Big Ten narrative a few times. The Big Ten wanted a school in the New York vicinity, and the Scarlet Knights are in the ballpark. It's the college football version of Manifest Destiny. The New York market might not seem like it matters, but then again, that's where "College GameDay" is this weekend.
College GameDay will be in Times Square Tomorrow! Wear Scarlet 🔴 to Times Square and show your Rutgers pride! #RURahRah🛡⚔️ pic.twitter.com/wIVcKSbOo0
— Rutgers Football (@RFootball) September 22, 2017
Rutgers is in the Big Ten as part of conference expansion, and playing the Scarlet Knights certainly didn't hurt Ohio State or Michigan State in their respective runs to the College Football Playoff the last three seasons. Whether the Scarlet Knights are good or bad for the conference doesn't really matter.
Now, it's on them to become something better than a cellar dweller, and avoiding harsh penalties affords head coach Chris Ash that opportunity in his second season. That might seem farfetched given the Scarlet Knights lost to Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State and Penn State by a combined score of 224-0 last season and lost 16-13 to Eastern Michigan in Week 2.
Don't say it can't be done. Maryland is off to a hot start in D.J. Durkin's second season and could be in position to compete with and pick off one of those four Big Ten East powers that shut out Rutgers last season.
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Look at Rutgers' backyard. The in-state talent is serious. Michigan's Rashan Gary (2016), Alabama's Minkah Fitzpatrick (2015) and Notre Dame's and Quenton Nelson (2014) and Penn State's Mike Gesicki (2014) were all Sporting News Preseason All-Americans.
Ash doesn't have to land all of those recruits, but he needs to win a few battles. In the 2017 class, Rutgers landed two of the top-five, in-state prospects in Micah Clark and Bo Melton. In the 2018 class, you have to scan down to No. 24 before you find a Scarlet Knights' in-state commit. That's the biggest challenge, one that could change the direction of the program and help move on from the five-year scandal once and for all.
In the meantime, Ash should be doing everything to put the Scarlet Knights in the headlines for the right reasons. The hot tub in the student section for the opener against Washington was a nice touch, but something more substantial. Academic progress and fewer off-the-field issues. That's where it starts. The victories — however measured — will follow. We still think Ash can achieve some of those goals.
Rutgers football will be good for the Big Ten at that point.
More importantly, Rutgers will be good for Rutgers.
