PISCATAWAY -- Rutgers has a pulse, and after how the last few weeks have gone, what fan wouldn't sign on for that right now?

To be clear, Rutgers was outplayed by Indiana on Saturday afternoon at HIghPoint.com Stadium, but late in the fourth quarter, the final outcome was in doubt before the Hoosiers ultimately secured a 24-17 win.

Art Sitkowski played better and looked more comfortable, which signifies progress. That and more as part of our five takeaways below, followed by five quotes.

Rutgers football: Sitkowski's toughness shows

1. This team has not quit on Chris Ash: Rutgers lost by 41 points at Kansas on Sept 15, then lost at home to Buffalo by 29 points. The Jayhawks loss was especially ugly, so on Monday, Ash had to field questions about whether or not his team has quit on this coaching staff.

The question at the time was more than fair given what has transpired. Ash adamantly denied it on Monday, and he used part of his opening statement after Saturday's game to reiterate that no one has quit.

Rutgers played hard on Saturday. It didn't always play smart, what with six penalties for 63 yards, but it played hard. Rutgers did not mail in the fourth quarter, down 24-7, but it kept coming. With some interesting play-calling decisions from Indiana head coach Tom Allen acting as an aid, Rutgers was within one score late, It was a Jon Bateky offsides call on fourth-and-1 from potentially getting the ball back with a chance to tie. More on that down below.

The question now is, can the Scarlet Knights take this and build off of it? For the first time in a long time, they will prepare for a game not coming off a horrid loss, but instead an optimistic showing.

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2. Art Sitkowski was better: The embattled true freshman quarterback, benched for ineffectiveness against Kansas and Buffalo, looked better, more comfortable against Indiana in finishing 18-for-35 for 154 yards, an 11-yard touchdown to Shameen Jones, and a end-zone interception on a bad pass in the second quarter.

Overall, this should be a positive day for the Old Bridge native to end yet another week of quarterback uncertainty. That storyline should now be closed, though, and the maturation process can move forward.

The biggest thing to come out of Saturday was Sitkowski's resolve. Indiana's pass rush was getting to him, and he took some big hits. He kept shaking them off, he kept hanging tough in the pocket. We have heard about this kid's toughness for a long time, but it was on display against the Hoosiers.

To that end, Ash called Sitkowski a "warrior" postgame."

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3. John McNulty called a good game: When Sitkowski actually had time to throw, Rutgers' offensive coordinator put Sitkowski in low-risk situations, mostly with short and intermediate passes, but there were times a long try down the field was dialed up. Picking and choosing spots for the long stuff is key, and McNulty did that well.

The deep throws were not hitting on Saturday, a combination of Sitkowski needing to be more accurate, and receivers needing to help him out by finishing routes. Still, this was the passing game's best effort of the season. Sitkowski said the game is slowing down for him, and his receivers are getting involved. Bo Melton, who had a step on his defender on a couple of the deep throws, had four catches for 32 yards, while Jones had three catches for 34 yards, plus an 11-yard opening-drive touchdown.

We saw more Isiah Pacheco on Saturday, but not much more. The freshman started the game as one of three running backs in a pistol formation. His highlight was a 39-yard halfback option pass in the fourth quarter to Jerome Washington. That play helped set up Jonathan Hilliman's 1-yard touchdown run to pull Rutgers within 10 at 24-14 with 9:22 to play.

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4. The secondary was supposed to be a major positive: Yes, Blessuan Austin's season-ending injury has not helped matters. Yes, Rutgers has youth at cornerback, namely true freshman Avery Young, but at some point, injury and youth are no longer excuses.

Rutgers' secondary has been bad this season, and it was bad on Saturday, yielding 292 yards of total offense in the first half, and 451 for the game.

The Scarlet Knights generated a pass rush in the first half, but no one backed the defensive line up. Hoosiers sophomore quarterback Peyton Ramsey carved Rutgers up with a host of intermediate stuff, much of it coming right in the middle of the field. With Ramsey (27-for-40, 288 yards) leading the way, Indiana finished with a whopping 12 chunk plays, broken down by seven completions of at least 15 yards and five runs of at least 10.

Even if Sitkowski were further along, and the offense was performing better more of the time, it would be hard to win games with the defense getting gashed every week.

Rutgers football: Pacheco waiting for bigger chance

5. Tom Allen's play-calling was wild: Indiana was in control of this game, up 10 with less than 10:00 to play. Then, things got weird.

On fourth-and-9 from the Rutgers 18-yard line, Indiana's head coach opted against a 35-yard field-goal attempt, which, if successful, would have put the Hoosiers up 14 and forced Rutgers to score two touchdowns just to tie. The fourth-down play, a fade to the end zone, was intercepted by Damon Hayes.

Later, up seven and facing fourth-and-1 from its own 34, Indiana drew Bateky offsides, then used the free play for a 25-yard pass from Ramsey to tight end Peyton Hendershot. Ramsey then took three knees to bleed the clock out.

Everything worked out for Allen in the end, but in the moment, that was some real gutsy decision-making.

Five quotes

"Because again, we're all here to try to win. But we improved a lot and the team showed me a lot in the second half. Very, very disappointed that we didn't get a victory. If we would have played cleaner we could have. But very, very pleased about the fight, the effort and the attitude of our football team in that second half. That's what we need. If we want to continue to get better and give ourselves a chance to win games, we've got to go out and play like that from the start to finish. We've got to prepare the way we did and we got to play that way. The effort and attitude was great in the first half, it was just we kept beating ourselves." -- Chris Ash, who is not big on moral victories, on whether or not Saturday is something his team can build from.

"It means a lot to me, because that's my head coach. if he believes in me, that means the world to me. I just have to go out and play. I'm really just worried about what we have to do to execute and win football games. I really appreciate Coach Ash doing that, it means a lot to me. I owe to my teammates to give it everything I got." -- Art Sitkowski, on Ash calling him a "warrior" during his press conference.

"I think the game is really slowing down for me. I've learned so much from Week 5, now going on to Week 6. I've really learned a lot from just playing. I've taken a step back and literally said to myself, "Alright, here's the coverage, here's the play, let's go execute. What's the protection?" Just slowing my mind, the way it thinks, so I can go in there and execute." -- Sitkowski when asked if things are starting to slow down and get easier for him.

"Everyone's been giving them no credit, talking about how bad the are. These guys were coming to work every single day, and they were going to work. They're trying. They're trying their tails off. I really appreciate those guys coming into work, and just wanting to get better." -- Sitkowski on the wide receivers, who had a productive day, catching 10 passes as a unit.

"A loss is always down for anybody, but I feel like the progress we're making is pretty much good for us. We're just showing the rest of the league that we're not going to accept any losses." -- Shameen Jones, who caught the first touchdown of his career

Staff writer Josh Newman: jnewman@app.com; @Joshua_Newman