A couple thousand fans on a sunny afternoon at Memorial Stadium saw the Huskies develop some offensive identity. The spring has been dominated by defense as the offense has lacked rhythm and leadership as Keith Price and Nick Montana vie for the quarterback position.

Price made steps toward winning that battle on Saturday, passing for 161 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Coach Steve Sarkisian has been cautious to comment equally on the two young quarterbacks thus far this spring, but after Saturday’s scrimmage, he brought up Price’s performance without prompting.

“I thought Keith Price had a nice day …

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Again, coach Steve Sarkisian used spring drills to break down the game into work on specific situations. Almost every team session this spring has been geared to specific situations within the game; down and distance, place on the field, time on the clock, against blitzes and various formations.

The philosophy has been Sarkisian’s standard approach, but it’s being stressed more than ever this spring.

“We try to never go out and run plays just for the sake of running plays,” Sarkisian said. “There always should be a purpose. We’ve always done this, but I think our emphasis …

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The defense looked strong in life team action on Saturday, but the offense bounced back late with a couple nice touchdowns, particularly a Nick Montana play-action pass to Austin Saferian-Jenkins and a 60-yard breakaway by Chris Polk.

Much of the rest of the action was a highlight show by freshman pass-rusher Josh Shirley, who finished with an unofficial four sacks. Shirley has been doing this every day in practice. His speed at the edge makes him a disruptive force in every passing drill.

The most illustrative example was on one play when Keith Price was flushed from the pocket. He …

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UW held it’s men’s basketball awards banquet tonight, with Isaiah Thomas the not surprising big winner.

Here’s the release from the school:

The Washington Husky men’s basketball team culminated its season with the annual awards banquet at the Don James Center on Wednesday night and junior guard Isaiah Thomas took home two awards, including MVP.

Thomas, who indicated on March 31 his intention of entering the 2011 NBA Draft, not only was named the 950 KJR Most Valuable Player, but earned recognition as the Playmaker of the Year. Thomas averaged 16.8 points per game and a Pac-10 best 6.1

…

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The Husky defense dominated practice Tuesday, Day 7 of 15 in spring drills. No one was more dominating than defensive tackle Alameda Ta’amu. Ta’amu, down to 330 pounds from a high of 375, was a disruptive force against the run and pass.

“I thought this was far and away Alameda’s best practice,” coach Steve Sarkisian said. “He was really disruptive. He hurt us in the run game, and then what he’s able to do in the passing game is collapse the pocket where the quarterback has a really difficult time stepping up.”

Ta’amu explained afterward that when he was …

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Coach Steve Sarkisian made it tough on his young quarterbacks Saturday. He had them running the no-huddle attack at a frantic pace; had them facing pressure defenses and tight coverages. On top of that, he put some pressure on them with some critical commentary. When Montana almost threw an interception on the first pass of the scrimmage, Sarkisian worked up a lather. It established the tempo and level of expectation for the entire practice.

“I want to make sure our energy level is right and where it needs to be,” Sarkisian said. “Sometimes that has to come from me …

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Visited with Chris Polk after practice. He was held out of the live stuff at the end of practice. I wondered if it was an injury, but Sarkisian said it is their intent to save him some hits in April. After all, they know what he can do in live situations.

Polk explained that he’s 218 at this point, down from 227 at the end of the season. He said he’s quicker, and he didn’t really like the way he was moving at the end of last season. Huh? He rushed for 284 yards against the Cougars and 177 against …

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The Huskies practiced in full pads for the first time on Tuesday, and went 2 ½ hours. After 75 minutes, Sarkisian moved drills from Husky Stadium indoor to the Dempsey Center. High winds were the issue.

“The biggest thing, in spring ball, especially, we only get 15 practices, and you need to maximize every opportunity you get,” Sarkisian explained. “I’m not concerned about us being a mentally and physically tough football team – we’ve proven that and we’ll continue to grow in that area. This was about being efficient and getting quality reps.”

After practice, the Huskies collected …

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