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Defense did it for Louisiana Tech University on the 2005 All-Western Athletic Conference football squad announced on Monday afternoon.

Of the four first unit representatives from the Bulldogs’ squad, three played on the defensive side.

The trio included lineman Moqut Ruffins, linebacker Byron Santiago and secondary member Tramon Williams.
Tech’s other top team member was Aaron Lips, an offensive lineman.

Overall, the seven-win Bulldogs placed seven players on the two clubs chosen by the head coaches in the 10-member league.
Picked for the second team were placekicker Danny Horwedel, offensive lineman Marcus Stewart and linebacker Barry Robertson.

The team featured individual award winners in running back B.J. Mitchell of Nevada as the Offensive Player of the Year, lineman Garrett McIntyre of Fresno State as the Defensive Player of the Year, wide receiver Davonne Bass of Hawaii as the Freshman of the Year and Nevada’s Chris Ault as the Coach of the Year.

Lips (6-5, 295, sr.) and Santiago (6-2, 233, sr.) were among five players who repeated as first team selections. They were joined by linebacker Korey Hall of Boise State, offensive lineman Daryn Colledge of Boise State and McIntyre.

A native of Tickfaw, Lips proved valuable in helping the ‘Dogs gather up 1,600 yards and 19 touchdowns from their running schemes, a year after current Philadelphia Eagles’ running back Ryan Moats gained a league rushing title for the second straight time.

Lips made an unofficially confirmed school record 47 straight starts during his Tech career.

Santiago, a product of Violet who earned votes for the Defensive Player of the Year honor, had 79 total tackles, including five unassisted. He was in on 2.5 sacks of the quarterback, a school record six forced fumbles, five pass break deflections and two fumble recoveries.

Also in the chase for Defensive POY accolades was Williams (6-0, 180, sr.) , a New Orleans native who averaged 1.73 aerials defended per game and finishing No. 1 among all league players for pass breakups with 16. He also had 43 tackles, three halts for negative yards and a club-best three interceptions.

Stewart (6-3, 305, grad.), from Denham Springs, combined with Lips for solid protection of quarterback Matt Kubik and fellow backfield starters.

Robertson (6-3, 221, sr.) barely missed out on making the all-league first team after leading the ‘Dogs in tackles with 103, among them being six stops for losses. The Hattiesburg, Miss., native added on three sacks, six pass breakups and one interceptions. In six games, he recorded double digits in tackles.

Horwedel (6-2, 195), a sophomore from Oak Ridge, Tenn., was 18-of-26 on field goals and 34-of-38 on conversions and ended with an average of 8.0 points per game.

That mark left him No. 2 among conference players while he also finished No. 1 in field goals made. From 40 yards out, he was 4-of-7.

Tech finished with its most wins since its 2001 WAC title-winning season and tied with previous top 25 nationally ranked Fresno State for third place in the conference standings.

The ‘Dogs closed out their campaign with a dominating 40-28 victory over FSU this past weekend.

Nevada and Boise State shared the WAC crown.