Brains, brawn power Vobora atop tackle heap.

Byline: Bob Rodman The Register-Guard

C o l l e g e f o o t b a l l

This kid can chase you down, knock you on your backside and explain to you in Euclidean terms just how it all happened.

Meet one David Vobora, a linebacker for the Idaho football team who carries a classroom full of academic honors in one powerful grip and a Western Athletic Conference-leading pile of tackles in the other.

"He can really play," an impressed Vandal coach Dennis Erickson. "This kid is a good football player. He really understands the game."

The former Churchill High athlete returns to his home state for Saturday night's Oregon State-Idaho game at Corvallis, one scheduled for a 7:15 p.m. start that is set to be telecast live on FSN Northwest.

"My mom bought 30 or 40 tickets," Vobora said. "There will be a lot of familiar faces in the crowd. It'll be a lot of fun, but it also will be all business.

"Before coach Erickson got here, it was all about competing. Now, it's all about winning."

Vobora ... Vobora. If the name sounds familiar, it is. David is the son of Andy, the former Oregon linebacker (1978-81), and Debbie Vobora.

And young David, a 20-year-old junior at Idaho, is a chip off the old block, using his brain as well as his brawn to grind down opposing offenses.

"I grew up understanding the game, because my dad knew the second the ball was snapped whether it would be a run or pass play," said David Vobora, the WAC leader in tackles with 40 after three games and third in the nation with a tackle average of 13.3. His 7.67 solo tackles a game are tied for ninth in the nation.

Not bad for a guy who was sidelined for a couple of weeks during fall camp because of a stress reaction in his left tibia, an injury that has not slowed Vobora, but "we continue to keep an eye on it."

Andy Vobora said the foundation for his son's football career always was on a bit more solid footing.

"He's certainly more athletic than I was and he's got better speed than I ever did," said Andy Vobora, frequently in Eugene's public eye as the director of marketing and communications for Lane Transit District.

"I was successful not because I was big and physical, but because I understood the game and knew where to be to make the plays."

David Vobora, however, has paired knowledge with power.

"I came here weighing about 190 pounds and most of the time when I was going against those 300-pound offensive linemen, it was me on the ground," he said.

"But I put on weight (he's up to 240 pounds), got in the weight room, got the right diet, increased my speed and strength, worked as hard as I possibly could and now it's easier to push off those 300-pound linemen."

The two-year letterman can handle 300-page textbooks, too.

Earlier this month, the student with a double major - psychology and communications - earned an academic scholarship. With his 3.48 grade-point average, he made the academic all-WAC team in 2005.

Again, like father, like son. Andy Vobora was a member of the academic all-Pac-10 Conference team in 1981.

"We are really proud of David and what he's done in the classroom," said Andy Vobora, who continues to rank second on the UO single-season tackles for loss list with 22 in 1980.

"They do make us think once in a while," David Vobora said. "School is important to me, but I think it means the most to my parents. I think they are most proud of my academics."

David Vobora - a linebacker, quarterback and running back at Churchill High - landed in Moscow, Idaho, only after being courted by Oregon and Oregon State. But walking on at those Pac-10 schools was not that appealing.

When ex-OSU quarterback Jonathan Smith left his graduate assistantship with the Beavers to become quarterbacks coach at Idaho under then-coach Nick Holt in 2004, he essentially took Vobora with him.

Vobora wanted to play as a true freshman. At Idaho, he did. But a line would be there.

He saw action in all 12 of the 2004 season's games and in all 11 last year as a reserve, totaling 60 tackles, 44 solo and six for loss, as well as nine forced and two recovered fumbles.

Holt left after last season and now is the defensive coordinator at USC. That opened the door for Erickson, who sat out the 2005 season after being let go by the San Francisco 49ers.

"When coach Erickson first got here, we were all super excited. It was a dream come true for the program," Vobora said. "It's been nothing but that since. He's a players' coach, has all the experience in the world, has seen everything and knows how to handle everything.

"Coach Erickson cut me loose, allowed me to use my speed from sideline to sideline, be where the ball is and make plays."

Vobora watches more film than a movie critic.

"I do a lot of film study, especially the NFL guys (linebackers)," said Vobora, whose ritual on the night before a game is to watch film of Pittsburgh Steelers super safety Troy Polamalu. "To play to your potential, you have to understand how the best guys play."

Johnny Nansen, the Idaho linebackers coach, said Vobora "does more than make plays. He's our leader, and the other players respond to him.

"He practices and plays with fire. Everything he does has meaning to him."

And it means a lot to his dad.

"I am enjoying it," Andy Vobora said, "but I enjoy it because David is. I had my time."

OREGON STATE VS. IDAHO 7:15 p.m. Saturday at Reser Stadium. TV: FSN. Radio: KKNX-AM (840), KNND-AM (1400).