LOS ANGELES » DeForest Buckner was taken back Sunday to when he was a child and his life changed forever, when his father, George, was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident.

Through tears, he shared the story of being a young boy in Waianae and having to grow up fast. This was before he was a star athlete at Punahou and Oregon. He was just a scared kid, wondering if his father would live to see another sunrise.

"The worst was going through my mind. I mean, I could lose my dad. I just know that whole night I couldn’t sleep. It was probably the worst night of my life.

"I remember being in the hospital all the time. Saw everything hooked up to him. Obviously he was in a coma and he looked kind of beat up. Growing up, my dad, he was a strong guy, so I was like nothing could take him down."

George Buckner did survive, and despite limited mobility the former Ole Miss and Hawaii Pacific basketball player makes it to Oregon football games, where his son has emerged as a stellar defensive end — a key figure in the Rose Bowl against Florida State on Thursday, and a potential NFL first-round pick if the fourth-year junior chooses to enter the draft.

"Mostly everything I know is from him," DeForest said. "He never played football, but he loved watching and he was my sideline coach for basketball."

At it was for his father, hoops was DeForest’s first love.

Close to his current 6 feet and 7 inches, he was getting some attention from Division I schools while at Punahou. But prior to his junior year he tore an ankle ligament.

"That dream got shot down. Well, at least I’ve got football," he remembered thinking. "Flipped the switch. Now I love football and like basketball."

He was a spindly teen but has steadily bulked up. Now, at 290 pounds, Buckner retains the athleticism that made him a Star-Advertiser first-team All-Stater in football and basketball.

Kale Ane, his football coach at Punahou, remembers something else, too, that made him special.

"DeForest has always been a fun kid but very mature," he said. "As the oldest son and because of his dad’s situation there was a lot of responsibility."

Now there is added responsibility as a leader on the Ducks defensive front. Buckner, along with the rest of the Oregon defense, has shed a label of being soft. They’re no longer considered just along for the ride with a high-powered offense.

In the 51-13 rout of Arizona in the Pac-12 championship game, Buckner and company held the Wildcats to 199 yards — and just 25 in the first half, during which the outcome was decided. He had seven tackles, including a sack.

Buckner knows he must perform as well or better if Oregon is to beat Florida State and advance to the national championship game.

"As a defensive front, we’re going to have to put pressure (on quarterback Jameis Winston). When I’m watching film, that’s most of the time when he makes mistakes. He kind of just throws it up or throws it away. So we’ve got to put pressure on him to help the DBs out to get those picks."

It’s his responsibility — a subject DeForest Buckner learned about a long time ago.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.