A couple of questions concerning trick plays?

[HailState39110]

I just saw Utah St try and run a trick play and was curious:

Did we ever try and run a trick play this year?I can't remember one. Why not at least try a couple of flea flickers or reverse passes against more talented teams ? If not on on offense why not pull a trick play on special teams (fake punts)? Why the ultra conservative play calling?

 

[InaccuratePredictionsDawg]

Every trick play Mullen has tried to run @ MSU...

..has turned into a Barnum & Bailey car wreck. I think he finally got the message this year & toned it down. Though I do think he tried to run a pass to the QB in the Egg Bowl. I may be wrong since that entire game was a Barnum & Bailey car wreck.

 

[Hump4Hoops]

I think he (barely) succeeded at one fake punt, in '09.

but has failed at every other fake punt, wildcat, and jump-pass.

I guess you could count the weird Favre play where he lined up behind 1 down lineman a success too.

 

[The Usual Suspect]

The best I remember was the onside kick against Cam and Auburn. Other than that, it seems we have run trick plays when everyone expects a trick play to be run. That's usually when they don't work.

 

[skb124]

And we turned that one into a nice three and out

 

[ronpolk]

Would running a trick play be classified as a "gimmic", which the majority on this board hates.

 

[kired]

It's hated because we're terrible at it. Anytime someone other than a qb throws a pass, there's a 50/50 chance it gets picked and about a 10% chance the play actually works.

 

[Son_of_34]

...I remember in Athens last year Mullen tried to sneak Farve in at Wide receiver and did a reverse and had a pass to a wide open Relf. But because we are MSU the exchange was fumbled and Farve under threw him by half a yard for the INT. Would have been an easy 6 if it would have worked.

 

[Dawgzilla]

Does Prescott's jump pass against UT count? That one even worked! (ETA: I guess it wasn't really a "jump pass", but he faked the QB dive and sort of crouched down Tebow-style before springing up and passing the ball).

I have to say, from the very start I expected Mullen's offense to have a lot more pizazz and trickeration in it. I thought the whole "spread the field, get your playmakers into open space" mentality would mean a lot more excitement and unexpected maneuvers. More like Gus Malzahn's offense. I remember one Auburn player saying "we don't run trick plays; our normal plays just trick people." That sounds a lot more fun to watch.