Mr. Kiffin seems to be an advocate for getting the ball across the goal line whatever way he can. Worked Saturday.
Trick plays can't be your bread and butter, but can be used to get an easy 6 or knock the defense off balance. With that said, seems to me that the teams that use them the most use them the best. I didn't complain after Dykes busted out a flea flicker inside the 5 once. He used that flea flicker a lot - it worked a lot.
The "Hook and Lateral" is a trick play that I honestly believe we should add to our arsenal. It's deadly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5wjbc-UbHQ
I like to think of them as well designed, perfectly executed, unconventional plays that are used sparingly to show the opposition you have your $hit together. They disrupt the defenses rhythm and as a couple of you said, they can be deadly and demoralizing when they are executed correctly.
All the above takes coaching, imagination, and desire to win. Do we have any of those items?
Football is symbolic of warfare in a game, attacking and defending ground and air assaults. All is fair in love and war. Everyone knows the advantage of a surprise attack which is exactly what a trick play represents. To not use every tactic possible at one point or another is simply not giving it your all to win. Even if a trick play doesn’t actually work it still puts some concern in the defenses head not knowing what might be coming at them. Right now I’d say Tech is about 90% predictable and about 99% inside the 10 yard line.