Colorado University Athletics
DE LIGON BUILDING ON EARLY SUCCESS
by Erich Schubert, SID Student Assistant
Sophomore defensive end Alex Ligon may be CU’s most athletic and dominant player off the edge. His ability to wreak havoc in the backfield and disrupt ball carriers and quarterbacks has lead to astounding results.
Ligon, who earned more playing time after the departure of Tyler Brayton to the NFL two years ago, hasn’t wasted any time making his presence felt this season in a starting role for the Buffaloes.
Against Washington State and in just his third career start, Ligon posted a career-best seven tackles, four tackles for a loss, three quarterback sacks, a forced fumble and no missed tackles on the coaches’ tape review, as the Buffs knocked off the Cougars at Qwest Field in Seattle. He became the first CU player since Drew Wahlroos in 2000 to have three sacks in a game. His dominating performance earned him Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors.
“That was a great honor I received,” Ligon said. “Coach (Mike) Hankwitz came up with a great defensive scheme that week which helped me get into great situations to make plays and help the team come out with a victory.
“I rank that one up there pretty high on my list of accomplishments, but I’m not very satisfied until I do it again and again. I just want to keep getting better each week.”
Defensive line coach Chris Wilson lauded Ligon’s performance against WSU, but realizes his defensive end has merely set standards to which he must perform at regularly.
“That has to give you some confidence so I don’t think that hurt him whatsoever,” Wilson said. “What it does do is show him that he can do it and now that has to be his bar. That’s the type of level he has to maintain week in and week out. So as long as he makes that his starting point he can go as far as he chooses to.”
Against a potent Texas offense last week Ligon was able to disrupt quarterback Vince Young’s rhythm early as he added a sack, a forced fumble and a QB hurry to his season totals.
On the year Ligon has posted 32 tackles, 4 ? sacks, six tackles for a loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Off the field Ligon is a personable young man with aspirations beyond the realm of football. He is a sociology major at CU, and he is interested in becoming a police officer whenever his football career is done.
“That’s something I’ve always wanted to do since I was a little kid,” he said. “I’ve always liked the idea of being out there around everybody and helping people.”
Ligon credits his mother for teaching him compassion for others. She used to volunteer at a center for neglected children and she would bring him along. Now Ligon regularly volunteers over the Christmas holidays and says it’s something he really enjoys doing with his mom.
“It’s always good to be there for kids that don’t really have too much,” he said. “When they see you and they see what you do it might help them try to work hard so they can achieve their goals and dreams.”
Ligon’s grandmother has also had a profound influence on his life. When he was younger, his mother worked as a flight attendant and was often gone for the weekends, leaving Ligon to spend time at his grandmother’s house.
“That’s something I’ve always loved,” Ligon said. “My grandma is just a great person and I love her to death. She tells me about life and how to be a great person. She was always there for me anytime I needed anything throughout my whole life growing up. I could have a problem and she was usually the first person I called every time. And I still do to this day.”
Whenever Ligon is out of touch with his family, he often takes solace in watching a movie or two, or three, or four. After watching game film at night, Ligon will often pick a DVD or VHS out of his collection which numbers over 300. “Bad Boys” is one of his favorite movies, but his three Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies that he has watched since his youth have become a staple for heckling among his teammates.
“James Garee is the worst,” Ligon confesses. “He calls me ?Teenage Mutant Ninja Defensive End.’”
Ligon, however, didn’t metamorphose into a football player. He gets his football genes from his father, Alfred Ligon, who played free safety for UNLV in 1982-83 and signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as a free agent before injuries cut his career short.
“I get all of my ability from my dad and I would always ask him for pointers when I was younger,” Ligon said. “He still tells me things I can work on and things he sees in my play.”
Ligon started playing football at the age of 14 when he attended North Torrance High School in Torrance, Calif. He was recruited by local teams such as Southern California, UCLA, Oregon and Washington. Despite the offers from these programs, Ligon came to CU because he wanted to get away from home. He came to Colorado the summer before he enrolled to attend the Buffs’ football camp and meet the coaches and players.
“Everybody here is like one big family,” Ligon said. “So it made my decision easier since I knew I wouldn’t be so homesick.”
Ligon redshirted his freshman year but that didn’t prevent him from making an immediate impact for the Buffs. He was a monster on the scout team as his coaches named him Scout Team Defense player of the week on three different occasions. Ligon credits his past efforts for turning him into the player he is today.
“At this level you have to work hard every day,” he said. “You always have somebody behind you pushing for your spot. I got my work ethic from watching all of the guys before me like Tyler Brayton and Marques Harris. I wanted to be like them so I play hard every play and don’t take anything for granted.”
Wilson can see the strides Ligon has made from being a scout team juggernaut to a cornerstone in the Buffs’ defense on Saturdays.
“It’s big because it’s like night and day,” Wilson said. “He was just hoping to get on the field. Now he’s on the field and he’s having a lot of success. The one thing you can’t teach is experience and he has that. Playing last year and playing in a lot of big games this year has made him more confident. Now he’s paying more attention to the details because he’s so much more involved and it shows day in and day out. It’s exciting to watch him grow, but he’s growing every week so he’s not done yet.”
Ligon is posting some big numbers for an underclassman. With two years of eligibility remaining after this season, he should only get better.
“His potential is unlimited,” Wilson said. “Obviously the more experience he gets will help. He has to do a great job of remaining academically sound because the more successful you are academically, the easier your transition is out on the football field. But he has all the intangibles and the sky is the limit for him.”
You can see Ligon on Saturdays as he crouches into his three-point stance and leaps vertically into the air before landing opposite his offensive foe before the snap.
“It’s a way to stay loose,” Ligon said. “But it’s also how I let ?em know I’m coming for them.”