My Two Cents: What does Chris Ash's firing at Rutgers mean for Indiana?

BLOOMINGTON, Ind — It was never a matter of IF Chris Ash would get fired as Rutgers' football coach, it was more a matter of WHEN. The former Ohio State assistant never had a chance in New Jersey, and his tenure mercifully ended last week after three-plus seasons.

Rutgers comes to town this week as Indiana's Homecoming opponent with an interim coach at the helm, a high school coaching legend named Nunzio Campanile. He's taking over what might very well be the worst Power 5 program in the country right now. There is enormous fan apathy and — even worse, far worse — player apathy as well.

Ash won only 3 of his 29 Big Ten games at Rutgers, and many of them were blowouts. Since being hired prior to the 2016 season, he's had many embarrassing losses. He was 0-4 against Michigan, losing 52-0, 42-7, 35-14 and 78-0.

Ohio State, his former employer when he was a co-defensive coordinator for Urban Meyer, treated him even more rudely, winning 52-3, 56-0, 58-0.

That's 207-21 against Michigan and 166-3 against Ohio State. And even though two of the games were close, Ash lost to Indiana three straight times, too.

Campanile, who won state championships as a high school coach in New Jersey, was named the interim coach last week. It was a rough week for him. His two best players — running back Raheem Blackshear and quarterback Arthur Sitkowski —immediately said they weren't playing in last Saturday's game against Maryland — a 48-7 loss — so they could protect their ability to redshirt this season.

That probably means transfers as well as everyone wants to run far away from this program.

What's it mean for Indiana?

Well, we talked two weeks ago prior to the Michigan State game that there's a line of demarcation in the Big Ten East, that the big boys Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Michigan State are at the top, and Indiana, Maryland and Rutgers are the perennial bottom-feeders.

There probably is a second line there, too, because Rutgers really can't be grouped with Indiana and Maryland right now, either. They're that bad. Last Saturday was a perfect example. Rutgers lost to Maryland 48-7, and this was the same Maryland team that lost to Penn State 59-0 the previous week.

It was almost laughable to me to see Rutgers' wish list for a new head coach last week after Ash was fired. Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead and Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi were mentioned, and both would be considered mildly insane to leave those jobs for Rutgers. Even Greg Schiano, who had success at Rutgers at one time but is a semi-toxic head coaching candidate now, has had his name bandied about.

Really? Really???

Campanile, who at least has a lot of great contacts in talent-rich New Jersey high schools, will probably get a look, too, but let's be honest. Does it really matter? Now that Rutgers is in the Big Ten and is arguably in the second-toughest division in college football behind the SEC West, can anyone really win there?

For Rutgers to move up the ladder, that would mean leap-frogging Indiana at some point, and I don't see that happening anytime soon. The Hoosiers have had two great recruiting classes in a row — at least for them — and even stole a key recruit from Rutgers in sophomore running back Stevie Scott. The talent gap is huge right now between Rutgers and Indiana, much like it is in reverse for Indiana and Ohio State.

Indiana is a 26-point favorite in Saturday's Noon ET game (TV:BTN) and I've searched and searched and can't find a time when Indiana was a four-touchdown favorite in a Big Ten game. That's a big gap.

For the Hoosiers, it's all about getting another blowout on Saturday and maintaining that pecking order in the Big Ten East. Rutgers is a mess, and it'll probably be that way for a while. It's in Indiana's best interest to keep laying it on, too. Putting a cleat on their neck and keeping there is a very good thing. It really is.

Through the years, Indiana knows all about being the whipping boy. Tom Allen and his staff are working to change that, and that means grabbing wins whenever and wherever you can. That means ALWAYS beating Rutgers right now and in the near future.

And that also means not letting that change.