Tennessee center James Stone had several mis-snaps during their 33-23 loss to the Florida Gators in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the University of Florida campus Saturday, Sep. 17, 2011.KNOXVILLE – Using both hands works best, and James Stone hopes to work that to his advantage.
Tennessee’s center is snapping the football with each hand, and the Volunteers coaches believe that’s the way to avoid the accuracy issues that were costly at key moments last season.
Right-handed snaps when UT is under center provide a more natural exchange for the quarterback, and Stone is more comfortable on shotgun and pistol snaps using his natural left hand.
“The whole summer we were working on it with Tyler [Bray] and the other quarterbacks,” Stone said Saturday after the Vols’ second training-camp practice. “I feel I got some good work at guard because I had been at center for a long time. I was able to get some quality reps and really just work on my natural football skills during the spring.”
The junior’s early-season snapping issues kept Stone from focusing solely on playing. The 6-foot-3, 300-pounder from Nashville started 11 consecutive games over two seasons at center before losing his job to Alex Bullard midway through last season. Stone believes he’s positioned himself to take back that job.