ASU redshirt senior linebacker Brandon Magee is known for speaking his mind when there’s a microphone in front of him.
For the time being, there’s a certain word he won’t be able to use during interviews — shutout.
Magee’s comments leading up to last Thursday’s Colorado game drew quite the stir during the nationally televised broadcast.
“Going out to Colorado, we want to pitch a shutout and make a point on TV,” Magee said in an interview with a local radio station.
The Sun Devils defeated the Buffaloes 51-17. Coach Todd Graham talked to Magee and told him not to say “shutout” anymore. Magee found out his comments drew plenty of attention after the game when his father called him while he was on the team bus.
“I guess they were talking about how I said we’ll shut them out and I talk too much,” Magee said about the broadcast covering the game. “I talk a lot — I do admit that — but that’s the thing with football. Somebody has to say something. If it’d be me, I’ll say something.”
Magee felt his comments were blown out of proportion and not meant to be controversial.
“The context was I play defense and I want to go out there and prove a point,” Magee said chuckling as he attempted to explain his viewpoint. “If we shut them out, we win the game obviously. That’s our goal every week but I guess they took it the wrong way.
“I said that as in a point that we need to go out there and make a statement on different, run to the ball and not overlook Colorado.”
Magee was quick to learn his lesson this week, declining to speak a “shutout” when discussing the team’s matchup against No. 2 Oregon on Thursday.
“I’m not saying we’re going to shutout Oregon,” Magee said speaking a more proper tone. “The matchup against Oregon is going to be a really good one. Defensively we need to out there and do what we do.”
Practice pace
Graham said he slowed the pace down at practice Sunday to walk through and talk about situations for ASU’s matchup with Oregon.
“The key is preparation,” Graham said. “I told them the key is how well we prepare.”
Magee said the defense ran through five straight plays before Graham would talk to the team. The defense got a drink of water and repeated the process throughout practice.
“Twenty-five periods is equivalent to what, two hours and 45 minutes? You get the picture," Magee said. "It was a pretty long one today,"
Magee said the defense won’t have time to celebrate after plays Thursday given Oregon’s offensive tempo.
“When we make a play, we can’t celebrate with the “eating” or even me celebrating with the talking,” Magee said. “We can’t do that this week. We got to get on the ball, get the call and get ready to go. We can celebrate when we get back on the sidelines.”
Don’t expect Graham to change the way the defense plays against Oregon. Magee said the defense will still be aggressive and make sure it stays gap sound and plays with discipline.
“He (Graham) said a lot of guys that play Oregon, they don’t want to blitz as much," Magee said. "They just want to play base defense. Coach Graham is a different guy as you can see and we’re going to stay with the same scheme. I have trust in the scheme that’s been working.
“We’re still pressuring. We’re still playing like us and make them adjust to us.”
Reach the reporter at mtesfats@asu.edu
