PISCATAWAY - Things aren't going to get any better, and they can always get worse for Rutgers.

That is where this once-promising season has arrived. As not only losses, but lopsided, embarrassing losses continue to pile up, one has to wonder where the floor truly is for the Scarlet Knights.

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Illinois is the latest team to show Rutgers a version of rock bottom, dominating most of the first half, then holding the Scarlet Knights at arm's length for most of the second half on its way to a 38-17 win at HighPoint.com Stadium.

Rutgers has now lost five straight, including multi-score routs at the hands of Kansas, Buffalo, and the Fighting Illini, plus a 24-17 loss to Indiana. All four of those matchups were perceived as winnable games on paper. Rutgers is now out of such games, and 1-11 remains a real possibility. .

Below, we present five takeaways from Rutgers' latest loss as this lost season wrote another disappointing chapter.

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1. The continued ups and downs of Art Sitkowski: Rutgers fans have to be warn out watching this kid's progress as a true freshman.

On the first play of the game, the Old Bridge native tried to fit a pass between two defenders to Travis Vokolek. It was a bad pass, it was intercepted, Illinois turned it into a scoring-opening field goal.

Early in the second quarter, Sitkowski was picked off over the middle on a worse pass than the first one. Fighting Illini senior quarterback AJ Bush took the third play of the ensuing drive 41 yards on the ground for a touchdown and a 17-7 lead.

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From there, Sitkowski began taking the low-risk short and intermediate throws the Illinois defense offered, and he looked good. At one point spanning the second and third quarters, Sitkowski completed 12 straight passes. An 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive late in the second quarter saw him go 9-for-9 for 84 yards, capped by his 7-yard scoring pass to Vokolek.

Here's the thing for fans to remember. If Ash thought Gio Rescigno was the better option at this point, he would be playing. He isn't. Not now, and obviously, not long-term. Keep starting Sitkowski, warts and all. It remains the only viable option.

Sitkowski finished Saturday 29-for-46 for 267 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. His three interceptions give him 11 on the season in approximately 12 quarters over five games.

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2. Rutgers' rushing defense continues to get gashed, yield chunk plays: This has not been a good season for the run defense.

A lot of that starts up front with opposing offensive lines getting the better of Rutgers, while some of it is poor tackling. However you cut it, it hasn't been good enough. On Saturday, the Scarlet Knights gave up 330 yards on 43 carries. That is far-worse than the 208.8 rushing yards they were giving up per game entering the day.

To hammer this point home, Rutgers gave up runs of 52, by Reggie Corbin in the first quarter to help set up the first Illinois touchdown, 41, by Bush on a second-quarter touchdown, and 73, again by Corbin, this time on a second-quarter score.

Corbin, only the Big Ten's 11th-leading rusher entering the day, finished with 137 yards on just 11 carries.

3. Welcome to the mix, Travis Vokolek: Jerome Washington was banged up most of the week. He dressed and went through pregame warmups, but did not play until appearing on the kickoff team late in the fourth quarter.

Enter Travis Vokolek. A sophomore tight end, Vokolek had some hype during the spring and preseason as a pass-catching option, but had yet to break out. With Washington unavailable, Vokolek got an extended look and he played well, catching five passes for 47 yards, plus the seven-yard touchdown, the first of his career.

Assuming health moving forward, Washington will likely get most of the work at tight end, but Vokolek is the future at the position. To see him making out well with an extended opportunity on Saturday bodes well.

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For what it's worth, his five catches outdid his entire season to date. Through five games, Vokolek had just two catches for 20 yards.

4. Johnathan Lewis played, but at tight end (not a typo): On Rutgers' second drive of the first quarter, the sophomore quarterback was lined up at tight end. This may come as a surprise to fans, but we are here to tell you, it's not.

Two weeks ago at practice, Lewis could be seen working out with the quarterbacks group, but later with the tight ends. That led to immediate speculation of a position change, but Chris Ash never addressed it publicly.

Ash did not say on Saturday that this would be a permanent change, but more of an experimentation with Washington out and reps available.

Hypothetically, if Lewis were to move away from quarterback, playing tight end would make sense. The former St. Peter’s Prep standout dual-threat quarterback is listed at 6-foot-3, 237 pounds. He looks much leaner, much fitter than he did at this time a year ago, and, going back to his high school days, he has no problem taking on contact.

Ash has previously stated Lewis is his No. 3 quarterback. He appeared late in the fourth quarter of the season-opening 35-7 win over Texas State, did not attempt a pass, and has not appeared at the position since.

5. Taking stock of the season's first half: If you saw this coming, you're a liar.

Everyone rational knew there would be hiccups with Sitkowski, but to this extent? Probably not. No one saw a 41-point loss at Kansas, no one saw a home loss to favored Buffalo. A loss to Indiana? Sure. A loss to Illinois? The game might've been a tossup, at worst, in August.

As we said above, this has turned into a lost season. Through six games, the worst-case scenario was supposed to be 3-3. A 4-2 record was doable under optimal conditions, the most-optimistic members of this fan base looked at the schedule and thought 5-1. That, though, would have been incredibly hard.

What we have now is 1-5, the meat of the league slate still coming, a quarterback trying to find his way, a coaching staff looking for answers, a fan base that is largely apathetic.

When Rutgers kicked a field goal, down 17 with 5:15 to play in the fourth quarter, some boos came. Those boos were a positive. Emotion, any emotion, is better than apathy.

Five quotes

"I don't know." -- Chris Ash, when asked why things being installed and practice during the week are not translating to Saturdays, a point he has been harping on for several weeks now

"That's between me and the guys." -- Ash, when asked what his message to the team in the postgame locker room was

"What do you mean understandably so? We're down 17. You needed a field goal no matter what. Our starting kicker (Justin Davidovicz) is unavailable (due to injury). We're in a position where we can get three points that we're going to need no matter what. So if we don't -- if we go for it and we don't make it, the game's probably over at that point. So we needed points no matter what. So we were in position for our kicker to make the kick and put the points on the board." -- Ash, going on the defensive when asked about kicking a 20-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, down 17 with 5:15 left to play.

"Not good. Any time you throw three interceptions, you don't give your team the opportunity to win. It's not good. I didn't do my part as far as starting fast like Coach (Ash) has been preaching all week. It's me. First play was a pick. We didn't win, not good. Have to get better from here." -- Art Sitkowski when asked to assess his play

"We're young, we're a very young football team. You look at offensively, most all of our guys are coming back besides our two tackles. This stuff takes time. This isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. We have to realize that, and I think we're getting better every week. We're just beating ourselves instead of going out and playing our best football. That starts with me as the quarterback, making sure I'm ready to play, making sure my guys are ready to play." -- Sitkowski

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