High-Motor Guy
September 21, 2007 08:57 AM | General
September 21, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Perhaps nobody has given more to the West Virginia football program over the last four years than senior linebacker Marc Magro. The Morgantown native and former University High School standout has endured three knee surgeries during his Mountaineer career.
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| Senior linebacker Marc Magro is ranked third on the team in tackles with 21.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
Despite the setbacks, which have provided a constant challenge and a seemingly never-ending rehabilitation process, Magro says he never once considered stepping away from the program he has always dreamed of playing for.
“It has been challenging,” Magro admitted. “It was a big challenge in my life but I have had a few of those so it was just an attitude where I knew I had to do what I had to do to get back on the field and do what I love.”
Rehabilitation and the tough training that come with it has never been a problem for Magro. The exercise physiology major has been interested in weight training since middle school and the 2006 Iron Mountaineer recipient has established himself as one of the team’s weight room warriors.
“I don’t mind the physical part of it but the challenge is more mental. There is a lot of physical demand but you have to come in each and every day and keep hacking away at it. It’s hard to see progress at times,” Magro said. “I’m still suffering affects from my surgery now. I have a problem with my tendon. It’s an ongoing process. You would love to feel healthy but you’re not going to have that during the season.”
Despite the pain, Magro’s production from his sam linebacker spot has been solid if not spectacular. He stands third on the team in tackles with 21 and is tied for second on the team 3 1/2 tackles for loss. The versatile veteran is also tied with Mortty Ivy and Johnny Dingle for the team lead in sacks with three.
Coach Rich Rodriguez always expects his seniors to have their best year of football in their final season and he believes Magro is doing just that.
“Marc is playing as well as any linebacker we have had in the last several years and that’s saying a lot because we have had some good ones,” Rodriguez said. “Marc is without question having his best year.”
Rodriguez and the defensive coaches have taken advantage of Magro’s high-energy, physical approach to the game, often lining him up as a rush end and unleashing him on opposing quarterbacks.
“Marc (Magro) lines up on the end sometimes because he is one of our better pass rushers,” Rodriguez said. “He’s a high motor guy and he works hard at it.”
The quarterback he will be trying to corral this Saturday is East Carolina’s Patrick Pinkney. The junior signal-caller provides a unique dual-threat challenge more so than any opposing quarterback the WVU defense has seen so far this season.
“He’s very athletic and he’s elusive. From what I have seen on film, we are going to have to be disciplined with our assignments and strap it down,” Magro said.
Magro notes that the key to the game defensively will be playing containment football, with a spy constantly tracking Pinkney to prevent him from breaking out into the open field.
“You would like to keep him in the pocket. You definitely don’t want to get him moving because that is to his advantage,” Magro said. “We will have a guy spying on him and watching his moves but if he gets moving you just have to make plays on him.”
Magro has seen on film the scary proposition that comes into focus when Pinkney tucks the ball and heads downfield.
“When he is out in the open field he makes guys miss,” Magro said. “He’s got a good arm and he’s been accurate but when he’s out in the open field he makes guys miss with some of his moves. He executes very well in the running game.”
Of course West Virginia quarterback Patrick White has been known to make a few guys miss in his own right. The Mountaineers have been running more first-team offense against first-team defense this week in practice in an attempt to give the defense a taste of what it will see on Saturday.
“Certainly with a team like East Carolina, who is going to be running a similar offense to what our offense is doing, it’s going to give us a good look,” Magro said. “We do have some great athletes and they give as a good look when we go good on good so we have to take advantage of that this week.”
Magro believes the Mountaineer defense is hitting its stride, having picked up a lot of confidence by holding Maryland to just 164 yards over the final three quarters last Thursday night in College Park.
“As far as people saying we are the weak part of the team, we don’t worry about that too much. Our offense does a great job, we just have to hang in there and get the job done for them,” Magro said. “We are just trying to please our coaches and please ourselves and give great effort consistently.”
Giving great effort has never been a problem for Marc Magro.
