BATON ROUGE, La. – Danielle Hunter led what LSU coach Les Miles described as a “dominant” effort by the Tigers’ defense in Saturday’s second preseason scrimmage.

The junior defensive end had nine tackles and four tackles for loss during the 120-play scrimmage at Tiger Stadium, with linebackers D.J. Welter and Kendell Beckwith and cornerback Rashard Robinson also drawing praise from Miles.

That said, Miles hesitated to declare a victor following the day’s competition, which featured multiple situational scenarios and special-teams work.

“It was nip and tuck,” Miles said. “It was difficult to move the ball and when we did, we had to earn it. They made us earn it. I thought it was really an even go, to be honest. Very physical. Big lines, defensive lines and offensive lines having at it.”

Following his pattern following previous scrimmages from the spring and earlier this week, Miles didn’t offer any specifics about his quarterbacks’ performances.

He said collectively they completed 20 of about 40 to 45 pass attempts and tossed three touchdowns. Miles wouldn’t say who caught the touchdowns, although he did say that nine different players caught a pass. He did reveal that freshman safety Austin Suits provided the day’s lone turnover, an interception.

The quarterback competition between Anthony Jennings and Brandon Harris still remains close, Miles said.

“There’s days where one quarterback shines a little bit more than the other quarterback. That’s something that everybody sees,” Miles said. “And then there’s those days where the other quarterback shines and the other guy can’t get out of his shadow. It’s just the way it is and it just takes time to put them in position and in situations enough to have them operate the offense so that you know really what it is you’re going to do with them.”

LSU’s four running backs all averaged about 14 carries, with the leading rusher going for about 60 yards and others finishing with 43 and 41 -- again, with no specifics on the players’ identities.

Freshman Leonard Fournette, who did not face full contact during Wednesday’s first scrimmage while nursing an injury, picked up a loose ball and “went a long way and certainly looked good” on a broken play against the scout team, Miles said. He also singled out senior Kenny Hilliard and freshman Darrel Williams for their power running.

“I think Kenny Hilliard is poised to have a really big year,” Miles said. “And I think Darrel Williams is learning behind him, and I think Darrel Williams is going to be a very good back here.”

Freshman receiver Malachi Dupre did not compete in either scrimmage, but Miles said he expects the nation’s top 2014 wideout prospect to return on Monday -- which could benefit the Tigers with the Aug. 30 opener against Wisconsin less than two weeks away.

“We expect him to be back on Monday, and that’s really good news because there’s going to be some things that he can do that he’s done naturally in his life forever that we’ll want to use in this game,” Miles said.

The Tigers will scrimmage again on Tuesday, this time in preparation for the Wisconsin game instead of the ones versus ones work that dominated Saturday’s scrimmage.

While Christian LaCouture and Frank Herron were the starting defensive tackles on Saturday, junior Quentin Thomas -- once thought to be out for the season with a torn bicep -- might be nearing a return. He didn’t play on Saturday, but might actually be back in time for the Wisconsin scrimmage.

“I don’t know that he played in this one at all, but he was in position to,” Miles said. “He did some individual [drills] and kind of decided rather than to go live into this one, to hold him. So he’ll probably get that opportunity in what will be the middle-of-the-week Wisconsin scrimmage that we’ve got coming up.”