Joe Imel/Daily News Western Kentucky’s Mark Santoro (left) intercepts a pass intended for Dexter Haynes (right) with Ryan Beard defending Saturday during the Hilltoppers’ scrimmage at Houchens-Smith Stadium.

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If there’s anything to take away from Western Kentucky’s first full-length scrimmage of fall camp Saturday, it’s that the Hilltopper defense is back.

After limping through a spring session that saw the offense dominate nearly every scrimmage, the WKU defense has gradually turned on lately.

Through nearly 100 plays Saturday, the Hilltopper offense crossed the goal line just once, leaving virtually every player in the defensive red jersey with a smile on his face.

“As a defensive unit, we were obviously thrilled with our performance today,” senior defensive end Dan Cline said. “Out of 96 plays, they scored just once - and ratios really don’t get much better than that in college football.”

With the health of the defense improving every day, defenders seemed energized from the start, flying to the ball on every snap and never allowing any of the WKU offensive combinations to find a rhythm.

WKU coach David Elson said he was happy with the defensive performance, but cautioned that the showing might not have been as powerful as it appeared.

“When you just look at getting in the end zone, yeah (they were good), but I don’t think it was quite as dominating as it maybe appeared to be,” Elson said. “Our quarterbacks are a big part of our run game, and not having them live makes a difference - so we can’t get any false sense of satisfaction there.

“But we’re playing with better technique up front. It seemed like a good day. I liked the way everybody came out and competed ... it was guys just going out and really trying to improve and do their job.”

The defense earned just one turnover - a leaping sideline interception by redshirt freshman safety Mark Santoro - but there were several near interceptions and pass deflections.

“We gave them last night off and took them all to the water park. Maybe that helped them - I think everybody was energized,” Elson said. “We kept things very simple defensively and I think it showed that it pays off, we just let guys go out and play.

“The thing I really liked was that we got some tackles for losses. We talk all the time about being good on first down and putting people in long-yard situations, and if we can continue to do that defensively, then we’ll be in good shape.”

Offensively, the positives appeared to be few. None of the three quarterbacks vying for the starting job - K.J. Black, David Wolke or Brandon Smith - seemed to distinguish himself.

“It came down to, I think, that we could have made some more plays here and there when we needed them,” Wolke said. “We just couldn’t consistently make plays and convert on third down, and that’s something we really have to work on.

“It’s all little stuff, man, it’s stuff that can be corrected and will be corrected throughout camp.”

Statistically, Wolke finished 6-for-12 with 59 yards through the air, while Black went 8-for-14 for 80 yards.

When asked if nerves were a factor due to the ongoing quarterback battle, Black shrugged it off, saying all three are used to this situation.

“We’ve been doing this since we’ve been here,” Black said. “They’ve always told us that we’re competing basically every day, there is no for sure job for anybody and I don’t think nerves had anything to do with it.”

Elson maintained that had the scrimmage included live hitting with the quarterbacks, things might have ended a little differently. He added that the coaches must review the film to truly evaluate all three quarterbacks’ performances.

“I absolutely have no idea, it’s hard to evaluate coming right off the field,” Elson said. “The film will tell, and then we’ll look at the numbers as well.”

Higgins plays, Bullard exits

While senior inside linebacker Alonzo Higgins saw his first official contact of fall practice - involving himself on several tackles - sophomore inside backer Chris Bullard was taken out of the scrimmage early with a shoulder injury.

Elson didn’t know the extent of Bullard’s injury after the scrimmage, but Bullard was seen in a sling with an ice bag around his left shoulder.

Also in a sling was defensive tackle Jon Belcher, but Elson said Belcher is fine and should return Monday.

“Belcher we knew about. He had some surgery on a nerve issue in his hand - he’ll be fine and back Monday with a club on,” Elson said. “Bullard had a shoulder issue, we’re not sure exactly the extent of it yet but we’ll find out.”

Other notables who were inactive Saturday were cornerback Marcus Minor (ankle) and running back Andrew McCloud (leg).