Hawai'i's defense is like a pastry chef: It keeps making turnovers.

After a six-turnover game in a win at Fresno State last weekend, the Warriors' delivered four more last night in a 24-14 Western Athletic Conference win against Louisiana Tech.

"Coach Mack (Greg McMackin) told us when turnovers come, they come in bunches," UH senior cornerback Ryan Mouton said.

The Warriors got interceptions by Desmond Thomas and Calvin Roberts and forced fumbles recovered by UH from Brashton Satele and R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane, whose hit came on an ensuing kickoff after UH just scored to pull ahead, 14-7. The Warriors didn't waste time in recycling that turnover into a TD to cushion their lead at halftime to 21-7.

But to the Warriors, the four were just beneficiaries of a well-executed game plan.

For example, linebacker Solomon Elimimian was able to pressure quarterback Taylor Bennett to throwing a dying quail on Roberts' pick.

"It's a great play because it takes so many people to make it effective," said Elimimian, who led the team with seven tackles and deflected one pass on a blitz. "Brashton opened up the gap for me, so I come in basically free, put the pressure on the quarterback. And he throws it up there and Calvin makes a great play on the ball. It's more than one person. It's the whole team. It's guys getting in the right gaps, doing the right things."

Sure, the Warriors allowed 358 yards in offense to the Bulldogs, who came in averaging 325 per game. But the turnovers essentially cost Tech.

After UH took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, the Bulldogs marched from their 22 to the UH 1. But on third-and-goal, running back Patrick Jackson raced wide left. But just before he reached the end zone, Satele came flying across, exploding into him.

"I was just hoping to stop him before the end zone," Satele said, "and my hand hit the ball."

The Warriors set the tone early, as the Bulldogs were three-and-out on their first two series of the game. They came with an assortment of blitzes, including two by cornerback Mouton who pressured Bennett into throwing incomplete passes.

"We came out blitzing," Mouton said. We took advantage of some of their weaknesses. It worked out our way."

And it wasn't just the starters doing damage. Backup defensive end C.J. Allen-Jones made only two tackles. But both were for lost yardage, one when he sacked Bennett for a seven-yard loss early in the fourth quarter.

"We've got good first-team players and when I get in to give them a break, they expect me to play hard," Allen-Jones said. "I'm not going to take a play off. I'm going to play hard when they give me the opportunity to. Tonight, I just did my responsibility and it came out good. We came out with a win and did it as a team."

That was evident on paper. Seven different Warriors were credited for combining on nine pass breakups. Six different players combined on nine quarterback hurries, led by David Veikune's three.

Veikune had five tackles, three of them for lost yardage.

"Our defense played with a lot of confidence," Elimimian said. "We feel we can play with anybody, as long as we play and understand that everybody is important."

The Warriors' defense proved that last night.