It would be silly for any scouting report on Hawaii to not start with the Warriors' offense.

After all, they're the nation's leading scoring offense, putting up 46.2 points per game with Heisman Trophy finalist Colt Brennan as the triggerman.

But even with an offense that averaged a national-best 46.9 points per game and Colt Brennan breaking or tying 18 NCAA passing records last year, the Warriors still lost three games. Considering the offense continued its dominant play this year, their vastly improved defense deserves much of the credit for their improvement from an 11-3 record to this year's 12-0.

"Hawaii's always scored a lot of points and I think they've probably taken more strides on the defensive side of the ball than anywhere else," said Boise State coach Chris Petersen, whose team ranks fifth in the nation in scoring offense at 43 points per game, but was held 16 points below its average in a loss to Hawaii. "They lead the nation in scoring, so they do about as well as they can do there, but that's where they make it tough. Their defense has tightened up and you've got to score with them.

"So when the defense is playing well and playing their game, they're tough to beat."

The Warriors were rarely mistaken for a defensive juggernaut last year, ranking 93rd out of 119 teams in the country in total defense (377.8 yards allowed per game), 69th in scoring defense (24.1 points per game) and 105th against the pass (241.7 yards per game).

Although the Warriors have a new defensive coordinator this year in Greg McMackin -- who took over when previous coordinator Jerry Glanville left after two years to become head coach at Portland State -- Hawaii coach June Jones credits Glanville for laying the groundwork for the defensive improvement.

"I think Jerry Glanville got us started in '05 and '06 kinda back to playing hard-nosed, tough football," Jones said.

Then came veteran coach McMackin, who has led his share of strong defenses in the past, having held defensive coordinator positions at 10 stops, including two at Hawaii, as well as at Miami, Texas Tech and with the NFL's Seattle Seahawks.

With McMackin at the helm, the Warriors improved to 33rd in total defense (348.9 yards), 40th in scoring defense (24.2 points) and 43rd against the pass (217.2).

"He kinda came in and the same schemes that we used -- zone blitzing, a lot of the different things that we did the last couple years, Greg just kinda added his touch on 'em," Jones said.

Of course it helps McMackin's cause that he has talent to work with -- and he's benefited from the emergence of several young players. Three of Hawaii's five first-team all-Western Athletic Conference defensive players are juniors -- linebackers Adam Leonard and Solomon Elimimian and defensive end David Veikune -- while a pair of seniors, defensive tackle Michael Lafaele and cornerback Myron Newberry, also made the all-conference team.

"I think physically we're better," Jones said. "We have to have front-seven people and we do have some guys up front that can play."

Leonard and Elimimian both have rising stock as eventual pro prospects, with a recent draft analysis story on Scout.com pointing out their roles in Hawaii's improvement.

The Warriors' opponent in the upcoming Sugar Bowl, Georgia (10-2), has taken notice as well. The Bulldogs realize that while the Warriors held only one opponent -- Division I-AA cellar-dweller Northern Colorado -- to single-digit points, Hawaii won't be a pushover.

"(Hawaii isn't) overly sophisticated in what they do, but they do what they do well," Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford said.

Tailback Thomas Brown took it a step further, saying that Georgia's offense needs an effective game not only for its own sake, but to benefit the defense by keeping Colt Brennan and the high-powered offense on the sideline.

"The defense doesn't get much credit, but they're a lot better than they were last year," Brown said. "They've gotten better in that phase of the game and they're gonna be a challenge for us. I think it's gonna be important, especially for us as an offense, to make sure we don't turn the ball over and keep (the offense) off the field as much as possible."

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