Matte to miss game for 1st time in career

When former quarterback Ben Chappell took the opening snap of the 2009 season against Eastern Kentucky, then-freshman Will Matte played center.

When sophomore quarterbacks Edward Wright-Baker and Dusty Kiel made their first career starts this season, they received the opening snap from Matte.

For the first time in the last 30 games, since the opening of the 2009 season, Matte will not start Saturday against Iowa.

A knee injury he suffered during Saturday’s 59-7 loss to Wisconsin will relegate Matte to the sidelines. Redshirt freshman Collin Rahrig will start in Matte’s place, IU Coach Kevin Wilson said.

“We’ve been kind of erratic as a line, so I don’t know if it’s that big a deal,” Wilson said. “(Matte) has always been reasonably steady with the snap, and you trust that Collin would come in. He’s done a great job in practice.

“We’ve really worked (senior Justin) Pagan and (true freshman) Peyton Eckert as much, so if there’s an issue with Collin, the next guy would be Steady Eddie.”

Wilson said he expects Pagan to play right guard and Eckert at right tackle Saturday.
Redshirt freshman Cody Evers will back Eckert at tackle, and junior Marc Damisch can fill in at guard if necessary.

Wilson said he isn’t worried about the position change for Rahrig, as playing the center position is very similar to playing guard.

“I would not anticipate having a center issue unless there’s a problem with Collin physically,” Wilson said.

Matte won’t be the only regular starter on the sideline at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City on Saturday.

Senior wide receiver Damarlo Belcher will likely not dress for the game. Like Matte, his knee is keeping him out.

Belcher has participated in practice this week but hasn’t been able to run hard or get up to game speed yet.

Wilson said sophomore wide receivers Kofi Hughes and Duwyce Wilson have been practicing much better this week after recovering from nagging injuries of their own that have limited them in several games this season.

“When a guy hasn’t timed up reps and we’ve got enough other guys, I’d probably say he’s out of the mix,” Wilson said.