Rahrig steps into big shoes at center for IU football team

When center Collin Rahrig takes the ball at the line of scrimmage, he’s filling big shoes, literally and figuratively.

The Hoosiers returned nine offensive starters from last season, with the only voids on offense left by center Will Matte, who graduated from IU last December, and right guard Dan Feeney, who suffered a season-ending Lisfranc injury in mid-August.

The 6-foot-2, 292-pound Matte started 45 games at center, which is tied for the most career starts by a Hoosier offensive lineman.

He didn’t allow a sack in 972 snaps in 2012 in addition to being a 21-time game captain in his IU career. He was also a member of the 2012 Rimington Trophy Fall Watch List, which is the annual award given to the best center in the country.

In Matte’s absence, redshirt junior Rahrig has started at center in every game this season.

“He had to get special shoes to fit him. They were pretty wide,” Rahrig said, laughing.
Rahrig said it wasn’t only Matte’s large feet that made him stand out, but also how he carried himself.

“Will was a competitor. He maybe was undersized just as I am, but he came every day and gave 110 percent,” Rahrig said. “He kind of just threw himself into the life of
football.”

Rahrig said he has tried to embrace his position and follow what Matte set up for his teammates.

“He was a great leader last year, and I’m just kind of trying to take that over,” he said.
IU Coach Kevin Wilson said Matte was one of the older players who “kind of bought in and took us hook, line and sinker,” but he said Rahrig is probably more talented.

“A little bigger, Collin walked on. He’s got a little bit more range, length, as far as doing things,” Wilson said. “Not a slight of Will Matte, who was one of our better leaders and one of the best since we’ve been around here, but Collin is doing well. He should have a good year for us.”

IU’s center said one of the best parts about the Hoosiers’ offensive line is the collective leadership.

“We have some other guys who are also leaders on the offensive line,” Rahrig said. “That’s why it’s such a great feeling because it’s not just one guy. It’s all of us kind of at the same time going towards one goal.”

He said the group mentality starts in the meeting room.

“I sit next to the left guard, and the left tackle is next to him, and on the other side of Coach Frey it’s the other center and the right guard, right tackle,” Rahrig said. “We kind of work together hand-in-hand during practice, and everybody just checks everybody’s role that’s on the line.

“We can work as one with our group of five guys, and that’s how you get the run game really working.”

He said the offensive line had some newer players last season, so the unit wasn’t as cohesive as it is in 2013.

“We didn’t have much time to get that little bit of flow with each other and get the run game going last year,” Rahrig said.

He said since IU played a lot of young linemen last season, the line now knows what it’s up against.

“I build up self-esteem, and then you kind of know you can play with anybody in this league,” Rahrig said. “I think that since we had a bunch of young guys, it was kind of like you went from high school straight to college and where all these guys are grown men.”

IU’s center said many older linemen from the early seasons of the Wilson era left, and then the line “pretty much started from new.”

“We’ve got some new guys with a lot of talent and the recruiting just keeps getting better and better so we just keep building,” Rahrig said. “It’s just amazing to see how we can just keep building from there and just progressing as an O-Line.”

Rahrig said although there are some younger players who haven’t played as much, IU has “some pretty good depth.”

The Hoosiers’ depth will be tested as the offensive line looks to replace Matte and Feeney.

“We have some guys stepping up,” Rahrig said. “The show’s going to go on. Any of us could go down, and it’s still going to go on.”

He said a couple of years ago it was hectic if players suffered injuries, and he could sense a “different kind of mood throughout the whole team.”

“Now I feel like with the loss of Dan, I feel like someone can step up and take that role and do just as good, if not better,” Rahrig said.

Despite the loss of Feeney, he said the team’s goal is to have the best offensive line in the Big Ten.

“That’s our goal, and we’re gonna try our best to achieve that,” Rahrig said.

The Hoosiers’ offensive line has not allowed a sack in three of the four games this season. On average, the unit is averaging one sack in every 38 pass attempts.

Rahrig, a walk-on who earned scholarships in 2012 and 2013, had 14 starts in his career before making the full-time transition from guard to center, where he will play a key role in the Hoosiers’ pursuit of having the best offensive line in the conference.

“No matter who your best player is, your center is kind of the leader of the line, kind of sets the tone, and that guy’s been good,” Wilson said of Rahrig.

Wilson said center is a critical position because Rahrig must put the ball on target to the quarterback so the offense can move quickly and so his teammates can do their jobs.

“By the way, there’s a dude about three inches away from you snorting at you that wants to get a hunk of you,” Wilson said. “It’s a very stressful position. He’s done an outstanding job.”

Rahrig said he is more locked in to his role at center this season.

“Now I’m pointing out where everybody’s at, calling checks, kind of just telling what even the down and the yardage is for the quarterback so they know,” Rahrig said.
“They have so much going on, like, if we’re on third down how far we have to go so we don’t throw a seven-yard route when we need to go 10 yards. I think that’s a big help and kind of being more communication for them to improve everyone else around me.

“I’ve tried to step up my leadership role then help guide those guys, especially with a guy like Dan Feeney going down, just trying to bring a younger guy up and then work him into our system even better than before.”

Follow reporter Andy Wittry on Twitter @AndyWittryIDS.