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Post-game celebrations on the Rutgers sidelines have been a rare sight over the past year-and-a-half. Yet on Saturday, Chris Ash frantically threw off his headset, pumped both fists straight into the air and was smiling from ear-to-ear after stopping Purdue from converting on what would’ve been a game-tying two-point conversion attempt.
Saturday’s 14-12 win over the Boilermakers signified a lot of firsts in Piscataway. A week after the Scarlet Knights beat Illinois for their first conference win of the Ash era, they posted their first B1G win at High Point Solutions Stadium. It was the first time Rutgers won back-to-back league games since joining the B1G in 2014.
Most importantly, it was the first sign that Rutgers is starting to turn that corner that appeared to be far off in the distance.
Not one month ago, Ash was standing on the sideline after removing his headset, waiting for the final seconds to dwindle off the clock, but the mood wasn’t nearly as jovial.
Rutgers sent its field goal unit onto the field in the waning seconds of a 56-0 game, trying to avoid another shutout at the hands of Ohio State. But the 32-yard attempt by Andrew Harte clanged off the upright and the Knights trotted off the field leaving another bagel on the scoreboard and dropped to 0-11 in B1G games since 2016.
After falling to 0-2 in conference play and 1-4 on the year, it really didn’t seem like Rutgers had made any progress from last year’s 2-10 campaign. It was even conceivable that the Scarlet Knights would finish the year with just that lowly 65-0 win over FCS foe Morgan State.
A lot has changed in the last two weeks.
Beating Illinois might seem like a marginal accomplishment on the surface — the Illini are one of the worst Power Five teams in the country right now — but the significance of that win shouldn’t be devalued. Snapping an 11-game B1G losing streak was a huge weight lifted off the wobbly shoulders of the program.
Rutgers won ugly in Champaign, beating the Illini 35-24, but it’s not in a position to be picky. And at this point in a turnaround process, wins aren’t something to be critiqued, whether it come good, ugly or lucky.
Ash made his way to the post-game press conference sopping wet after enjoying a Gatorade bath. That was a pretty good indication that the head coach could care less about how his team ends up on the right side of the scoreboard.
That win over Illinois blossomed into confidence, which was evident in last week’s match-up against Purdue. Maybe it wasn’t apparent in how the Scarlet Knights performed — it was another sloppy game — but they pulled through in the game’s most crucial moment.
Purdue was able to make a spectacular touchdown catch in the closing seconds of the game to pull within a two-point conversion of sending the contest to overtime. Instead of surrendering a big play like it had so many times before, Rutgers’ defense tightened up and was able to force an incompletion and clinch its second-straight conference victory.
Victories over Illinois and Purdue, regardless of eye appeal, are important steps in this gradual growing process for Rutgers. While the operation might seem like it’s moving at a snail’s pace, the fact that it’s moving at all is a promising sign.
A year ago — even earlier this season — those were games Rutgers couldn’t win. Think back to Minnesota’s last-second field goal that propelled the Gophers to a 34-32 win, or Iowa’s offense doing just enough to win a 14-7 decision. And this year, Eastern Michigan pulled out a 16-13 win because of the Knights’ clock management issues.
So yeah, the past two wins have been huge for the program.
It’s still going to take some time until Rutgers is mentioned in the same category with teams like Ohio State and Penn State. To be honest, that day may never actually come, but there will be a point in which the Scarlet Knights aren’t getting walloped 56-0 on their home turf by the bluebloods on a yearly basis.
Before that can happen, Rutgers has to prove it can win a few games against some of the bottom-to-mid-level competition in the B1G. It’s done that the past two weeks. And it may not be done winning, by the way. After seeing Ash’s crew perform the last two Saturdays, is it really out of the question to think the Knights might knock off Maryland or Indiana?
Those are two extremely winnable games for Rutgers.
Progress might not be coming along at the rapid pace that fans, alumni, even the coaching staff and the players would like. But Ash understood this was a rebuilding process from the start, and getting Rutgers to a more competitive level might come with some agonizing defeats.
But after 11-straight losses, there’s finally some hope, and a little joy, in Piscataway. The Scarlet Knights are still early in the process, but they’re starting to turn that proverbial corner. It’s been evident on the field the past two weeks.
That might be the real reason Ash couldn’t wait to throw off his headset and pump his fists into the air with that giant grin on his face.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB