There was a noticeably different feel - and sound - at Houchens-Smith Stadium on Tuesday.

The clearest change probably was Western Kentucky football coach David Elson’s hoarse voice.

Elson and the WKU coaching staff spent most of Tuesday’s practice in the ears of any players who crossed their paths - most notably the Hilltopper defenders.

And after the unusually physical and intense November practice ended, Elson aggressively addressed the team for nearly 10 minutes, with his voice carrying far beyond the confines of the football stadium.

“We’re 0-8, we’ve got the best team in the conference (Troy) coming to town, we need to pick it up,” Elson said after practice. “We need to get better, up our intensity, and that’s what we did today. We got after it.”

Not only did Elson spend the majority of his time arguably being more vocal than he has been at any practice this season, he also sent the defense through an extended period of tackling drills - a reaction, most likely, to the WKU defense’s poor showing in a 68-49 loss at North Texas on Saturday.

For most of the first half of practice, the WKU defensive linemen, linebackers and defensive backs rotated through three individual workout stations - one working on tackling, one working on stripping the football and another focused on pass defense.

“It’s turnovers and tackling, and it’s something quite honestly we haven’t emphasized enough,” Elson said. “Obviously, it’s become a glaring issue. We haven’t forced turnovers and we haven’t done any tackling, so we spent the entire individual period on just that - turnovers and tackling.”

As for the players? They said over-emphasizing fundamentals and getting an earful from coaches were both probably overdue.

“We needed intensity out here. It’s something we’ve been needing,” WKU junior linebacker Thomas Majors said. “And coach being in our ears, we need that. It motivates you, some people need that push - I need that push.

“We’ve got to have mental toughness out here.”

Elson said the emphasis on defensive tackling will remain throughout this week. The entire defense will spend the majority of its individual workout periods working on basic fundamentals.

On top of that, the players say they hope Elson spends the rest of the week jawing at them as well.

“We’re trying to turn it up, get some live looks and coach was back in our ear again - but that’s all good for us,” WKU sophomore defensive end Jared Clendenin said. “I love that, I feed off that and we need that. We’ve got to turn it up.”

Injury updates

Already out for Saturday’s game against Troy are junior receiver Quinterrance Cooper and junior safety Orlando Misaalefua - both with concussions. Elson said true freshman safety Kareem Peterson also suffered a concussion, but his status was day-to-day.

For Cooper, the problem could be more serious, as the concussion was the second he’s suffered this season.

True freshman linebacker Josh Carter, who missed last week’s game with a concussion, could possibly return this week if his doctor’s appointment goes well, according to Elson.

Also possibly returning will be sophomore center Shelley Anthony, who didn’t make the trip to North Texas last week with an elbow injury.

Former Bowling Green High School safety Ryan Beard will miss his second straight game with a reinjured knee. Elson said Beard’s status for the rest of the season would be updated later in the week.

With Beard, Misaalefua and Peterson out, WKU loses three of its top four safeties. On Tuesday, sophomore cornerback Trent Calhoun spent time taking reps at the safety position.

Read WKU beat writer Nick Baumgardner’s Hilltopper blog at bgdnwkublog.wordpress.com.