PISCATAWAY -- The decision, at least, is easy now. If Rutgers can't beat a lousy Illinois team with its backup quarterback at home, then 2016 is just another log thrown on to the pile of lost seasons for the Scarlet Knights.

Will they win another game? Here is a better question for the fan base: Would three or four Ws really make anyone feel that much better than two? This is a complete rebuild, and if anything, the 24-7 loss to the Illini on Saturday at High Point Solutions Stadium made what has to happen next crystal clear.

Chris Ash and his coaching staff need to focus on 2017 and beyond now, to make painful decisions in the short term that might help in the long run. This must be about establishing a foundation for the future, because we have seen the present and it isn't pretty.

"How much youth are you willing to go play the rest of the Big Ten schedule with?" offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer said when this one finally ended. "That's a question you have to answer."

Here's the answer: As much as possible, and it starts with the most important player on the field. Chris Laviano started his 18th straight game for Rutgers and, after failing to lead Rutgers to a single point for 10 straight quarters, he headed to the bench. He should stay there.

Laviano was the best short-term option for this team, the most experienced and accurate thrower in the program, but he was always a bad fit for this offense and has done nothing to prove he deserves the job. Gio Rescigno started the second half and -- hallelujah! -- led Rutgers to an actual touchdown.

"It's open. It's completely open," Ash said of the QB competition. "We haven't had enough production at the quarterback position in the first half of the season, and we've got to open it up."

I'd throw the keys to freshman Tylin Oden, the player with the most upside, and see what happens. Yes, he is five months removed from his high school prom, as Mehringer -- who is just 10 years removed from his -- noted in his postgame press conference.

Again: It doesn't matter. The starting quarterback for 2017 might not even be on the roster as good as Jonathan Lewis has looked this season for St. Peter's Prep, but Rutgers has five games to see what Oden has. What do they have to lose but more games?

The shame of it is, the Scarlet Knights could have won this one. They were the better team statistically, with more first downs (23 to 11) and more total yardage (385 to 320). The defense actually played well, and given the struggles the previous two weeks, that was a good sign.

Five turnovers and three failures to convert on fourth down, ultimately, was too much to overcome. Ash, as brutally honest as any coach I've encountered, didn't mince words: This team has hit a wall.

"We talked to the players [and] ... there's a wall that everybody hits at some point, and that wall is the difference between average and good and good to great and great to elite," Ash said. "We're at that wall. We need to find a way to get over it.

"There are a lot of positives that I can take out of this game, unlike the last two. The last two, there weren't any positives. We were annihilated. There's no secret to that. This game, there's a lot of positives I can take out of this game that we can build on."

And build he must. This must be an incredible shock to the system for Ash, who was 26-2 in two years at Ohio State. His three biggest priorities remain recruiting, recruiting and recruiting. Also: Recruiting.

Ash always has kept his focus on building something for the long term, about making the behind-the-scenes improvements to put this program in a better place down the road. The loss to Illinois makes it crystal clear that the 2016 season is a lost cause.

Will 2017 be any better? The process to make sure that it will be has to start right now.

LISTEN: Episode 4 of NJ.com's Rutgers Football podcast

Rebuilding Rutgers: From The Ashes takes you inside the new football regime. This episode is about Jim Harbaugh invading N.J. and Chris Ash fighting back.

Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevePoliti. Find NJ.com on Facebook.