Defense was a lost art at Louisiana Tech last year but its new football coach, Derek Dooley, didn't realize it was just plain forgotten, too.

It was bad enough that the Bulldogs had no defensive bite, finishing last among 119 NCAA Division I-A teams in scoring defense and ranking in the bottom four in several other major categories, including total defense, rushing defense and pass defense. All contributors to a 3-10 season and eighth-place Western Athletic Conference finish.

But when Dooley replaced Jack Bicknell, all fans in Ruston, La. wanted to talk about was the offense. At a school that produced quarterbacks Terry Bradshaw, Tim Rattay and Luke McCown among others, Dooley said the questions and concerns were on that side of the ball.

"When I was interviewing for the job and researching it, I asked people what they thought the problem was," Dooley recalled. "Everybody I talked to said the offense wasn't what it used to be. I open up the stats and the defense was ranked last in nearly every stat category."

Prompting Dooley to wonder: "Is everyone dyslexic in Ruston?"

So the job Dooley has undertaken is more than the already-considerable one of just rebuilding a porous defense. There is also the matter of educating the players and their fans. All of which face their sternest test Saturday night in Joe Aillet Stadium, when the nation's passing offensive leader, Hawai'i, comes calling in the WAC opener.

If there was a team that highlighted Tech's defensive shortcomings last season, it was UH. More than Nebraska, Texas A&M and Clemson, it was the Warriors who had their way by hanging a six-year-high 61 points on the Bulldogs. In a 61-17 victory, the Warriors rolled up 653 net yards in one of quarterback Colt Brennan's earlier departures.

Dooley, the son of Hall of Fame Georgia coach Vince Dooley, has preached defense, calling it the "starting point" for what the Bulldogs have to do. "Anytime you have the season we had last year, you have to go back to the basics and fundamentals," Dooley said.

He's tried to sell the idea that it is not just OK to play defense, but a necessity if the Bulldogs, who won the WAC title in their first year of membership (2001), were ever going to return. Dooley preached that not every game has to be of the 44-41 shootout variety like UH won in Ruston in 2003.

After a 28-7 victory over Division I-AA Central Arkansas sparked by cornerback Tony Moss' three interceptions, the Bulldogs attempt to prove that defense is alive and thriving in Ruston.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.