Other than the quarterback position, there might not be another spot on the football field where the backup gets the spotlight shined on him more than at center when pressed into duty.

Nothing will get a center noticed more than a snap that is off the target.



Dan Oak found that out during last week's SMU game when one of his snaps was off target and some others were a little low.

Oak was among the players made available to the media on Tuesday and he reflected on his first career start and yes, even the wayward snap.

"It was a great experience, you dream about it," Oak said of his first career start. "It was amazing, I can't really describe it."

Oak was thrust into action when starting center Ryan Crozier went down with a season-ending knee injury against East Carolina. He stepped in and while there was an occasional low snap, he had a pretty solid showing.

However, Oak wants to get to the point where the snaps to Bryant Shirreffs are an afterthought and this week in practice he has been taking steps towards making that a reality.

"You have to read the defense to know what is going on so you can communicate it to the rest of the offensive line, telling them what we are doing," Oak said. "It comes down to repetition, the more I do it, the better I'll be at it. I try to treat every rep like a game rep in practice

"Hitting him right in the chest (with every snap) and I've been doing really well this week so I am going to try keep doing the same thing over and over and over. Trying to treat everything as a game rep and make it as real as I can."

A guard at Fort Myers (Fla.) High School, Oak was moved to center right away as a true freshman and this is his fourth season getting work at center for the Huskies.

"I got recruited pretty late in the process so I didn't know for sure," Oak said. "I figured I would be somewhere in the interior but I wasn't 100 percent sure and I was just going to play where they needed me to play."

Oak and Shirreffs worked together during the 2014 season on the UConn scout team and the relationship between the two wasn't limited to their time on the practice field.

"Dan and I had a class my redshirt year here and I think we were the only football players in the class so we bonded in that class," Shirreffs said. "It is definitely important, I am close to Ryan (Crozier), Dan, Vech (Brendan Vechery), Schaf (Kyle Schafenacker), all the centers. I think it is an important relationship to have because you are the first two people to touch the ball on any offensive play. I think I just said, 'let's go, we believe in you (after the bad snap).' I think he did a good job and he has been doing a good job."