PISCATAWAY -- Let this serve as proof that Rutgers coach Chris Ash has reached his breaking point with insufficient quarterback play: He used the word "open" seven times when discussing the current state of position.

Unlike the past two weeks when starter Chris Laviano retained his job after in-game benchings, Rutgers will give others an opportunity during practice to win the job after falling 24-7 to Illinois in a battle of the only 0-3 teams in Big Ten play.

"It's open," Ash said. "It's completely open. 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."

Laviano finished 7-of-12 for 62 yards in making his 18th consecutive start, but that only tells part of the story. He was removed because the offense came up empty on five possessions in the first half despite gaining 186 yards and 12 first downs.

Laviano, who an open competition during the offseason, lost a fumble in the red zone at the end of a two-yard scramble and could not handle a high snap from center Derrick Nelson on a fourth-and-short, turning a critical play into a bust.

"We've got to look at doing something differently -- whether it's him doing something differently or someone else has got to be in there -- and we're at that point," Ash said.

"Chris has done a lot of good things and again, like I've said before, it's not all on him. But a lot of times, you've got to have a quarterback there that people trust, and every now and then when things break down, can make something happen."

Giovanni Rescigno was the latest to emerge from a quarterback carousel that turned up freshman Tylin Oden against Ohio State and TCU transfer Zach Allen against Michigan. He went 10-of-18 for 120 yards with a touchdown pass, a costly pick-six and 51 rushing yards game, which netted out to 37 after sacks.

"I feel like he ran the ball well and made some good decisions," said tight end Nick Arcidiacono, who caught a touchdown pass. "Gio brings that (running) aspect into the game so he was able to capitalize and make plays off of it."

Will all three backups have a chance to supplant Laviano? How about last year's backup quarterback Hayden Rettig, who has yet to be seen?

"I don't know many," Ash said. "But the quarterback position is open. How many will have an opportunity? That will be up for conversation as we go into next week starting (Sunday) and Monday. But we've got to look at doing something different."

Rutgers entered the game ranked last in the nation in total offense and near the bottom -- ahead of only triple-option-based attacks -- in passing offense.

"You get asked about style, you get asked about qualities," emotional offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer said. "We're looking for production and leadership."

One school of thought is to abandon the competition completely and just hand the reins to Oden, for better or worse short-term with an eye toward the long-term.

Greg Schiano made a similar play at the end of his second season, when he burned true freshman Ryan Hart's redshirt in the eighth game of 2002.

"Tylin's got a lot of youth, and how much youth are you willing to go play the rest of the Big Ten schedule with?" Mehringer said. "That's a question that you have to answer: Are you willing to accept that youth because we all know that freshmen make mistakes, especially kids that -- what, it's October, he's five months removed from going to the prom.

"So from that standpoint it's something you have to weigh from all those guys. What can they do? What can give us the best chance to win? To answer that question, I don't know yet. I could probably tell you that later in the week.''

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.

Ryan Dunleavy may be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.