"My daughters didn't like it when I took him to work," Singletary said. "That's their little baby."

But Singletary kept the canine motif for the defensive line's meeting room. There's a large dog cage — now housing a stuffed dog — a 20-pound bag of dog food in the corner and a dog chain hanging from the door.

Singletary refers to Fuga, a sixth-year senior who has been on the team since June Jones' first UH spring practice in 1999, as the "Dogfather."

The defensive linemen are collectively known as the "Dog Pound." The linemen and their parents receive "Dog Pound" T-shirts from Singletary.

"I guess this whole dog thing is a metaphor for toughness," Fuga said. "Coach Singletary wants us to bark on the line. He always tells us: 'You're on a leash until the ball is snapped, then go out and attack.' "

The Dog Pound has an open-admission policy. Three former offensive linemen have joined in the past six months — the latest is Michael Lafaele, who practiced at defensive tackle yesterday. The line also includes former UH basketball players Nkeruwem "Tony" Akpan and Ikaika Alama-Francis.

But it is largely at defensive tackle where the Warriors have the most inexperience. Before the start of training camp in August, Abu Ma'afala announced he was leaving the team — he ended up transferring to California — Lawrence Wilson needed additional college credits to be eligible to play this fall and Austin Jackson did not report.

The Warriors entered the season with nine defensive tackles for the two positions. Fuga had played in 35 Division I-A games; the others had a combined four games at defensive tackle.

Keala Watson is done for the season because of an undisclosed medical condition. So, too, are fellow freshmen Fale Laeli (shoulder surgery) and Clarence Tuioti-Mariner (subluxed shoulder). Kahai LaCount has a partially torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee. That leaves Darrell Tautofi, a fifth-year senior who missed the previous two seasons to focus on academics, and Larry Sauafea, who moved from the offensive line in August, as the immediate backups to starters Fuga and Matt Faga.

"We have to do the best with what we have," Singletary said.

Fuga, who has served as mentor to Tautofi since training camp, constantly offers advice to the other defensive tackles.

"They'll be all right, if they learn the basics, which shouldn't be a problem," Fuga said. "I tell them to make sure they play with great technique. They have to watch film and learn from their mistakes. I'm always trying to learn from my mistakes."

The 275-pound Tautofi, who moved from defensive end during training camp, is somewhat light for an interior lineman. "Lui taught me to use my quickness to my advantage," Tautofi said. "It's good to have people push you. If you try to do it on your own, it's hard to motivate yourself."

Tautofi said he has recovered from a sprained right shoulder suffered a few months ago.

Sauafea said he is adjusting to playing on defense. "I'm feeling good about it," he said. "Now I have to perform when game day comes around."

Before yesterday's practice, Sauafea showed Lafaele the proper stance and how to read blocks.

"It's way different from being on offense," said Lafaele, who was the third-string center.

When it was learned that Watson, LaCount and Tuioti-Mariner would not be available for this week's game against Texas-El Paso, Jones decided to move Lafaele.

With right guard Uriah Moenoa as the top backup to center Derek Fa'avi, "we'd have to have two people get hurt before (Lafaele) got into a game on offense," Jones said. "He's tough, real physical and he'll make the adjustment (to defense) the fastest."

Told of the move, Lafaele said: "I was surprised, but I'll do anything to help the team."

Fuga said the adversity is providing further motivation. During the summer, Fuga recalled, "we went to 7-Eleven, and we checked out a college football magazine. We looked at the rankings of the d-lines, and we were last. We're mad. We have pride. We want to prove the critics wrong. It's our rottweiler mentality."