Huskies wrap up spring ball

With every practice now open to the public, Washington's spring game isn't the grand unveiling it was during the Tyrone Willingham era.

Still, new head coach Steve Sarkisian hopes fans who have come out for earlier workouts will see something different today when UW holds its annual spring game at 1 p.m. at Husky Stadium.

Specifically, a better team.

Today marks the end of 15 spring practices, and while Sarkisian isn't ready to proclaim his team a finished product, he says he's seen vast improvement.

"I went back and watched our first three practices again and then I watched our most previous three before this one [Friday] and we are a better football team," Sarkisian said.

"That's something coming into the spring we wanted to get accomplished — are we a better team than in practices 1-2-3? And there's no doubt we are. We are playing faster, more physical with more attention to details. And the beauty of it is that there's still a lot of room for improvement."

Sarkisian — who works primarily with the offense and will call plays in games — said what he may be most eager to see today is the play of the tailbacks, a position that is wide open. Guys such as Chris Polk, Brandon Johnson and Curtis Shaw, who have missed some time with minor injuries, should all be ready to go today, and he's hoping to give the position some significant work.

He'll also be looking to see a continuation of what he said has been fine play of late from quarterbacks Jake Locker and Ronnie Fouch.

Defensive coordinator Nick Holt, meanwhile, also is enthusiastic about his charges, saying that among other things, "the tackling has really improved" of late.

He has been particularly pleased with the front seven, which has been pretty consistent with Daniel Te'o-Nesheim and Darrion Jones at end, Cameron Elisara and Alameda Ta'amu at tackle, and E.J. Savannah, Donald Butler and Mason Foster at linebacker.

"I think our starting front seven is pretty solid," he said. "I like our linebacking corps. I think our starting linebackers could be as good as anybody that we'll play against. I really believe that."

The secondary remains more uncertain.

Sarkisian said the team will run 80 to 90 plays today. The players will be divided up into two even teams, so the starters will be mixed in with reserves. However, injuries at some spots could mean some players play on both sides.

NOTES

• The game is not televised but will be streamed live on GoHuskies.com with commentators Benton Strong and former UW linebacker Tahj Bomar. It will also be live on KJR-AM 950.

• Activities begin at 10 a.m. with the Husky Spring Cleaning Sale of old UW merchandise. There is also a Husky Kids Zone open from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and the season ticket Select-a-Seat will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

• The school will unveil the new football uniforms for the 2009 season on mannequins in the east end zone.

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com