Sun Devils Know A Few Tricks, Too

For football coaches, the trick play is often confined to the practice field, used primarily as a psychological ploy.

Players starting to drag, minds starting to wander? Put in a tackle-eligible play and throw one to a big, slow oaf. Dust off the flea flicker, or the hook and lateral. And just watch everybody perk up.

Employ any of these in an actual game? Not if you want to keep your job … much less the No. 4 national ranking.

But Arizona State, facing a desperate moment with 6-1/2 minutes left Saturday at the Rose Bowl, actually had to base its hopes on a goofy play. The Sun Devils pulled something called “snake pass” from the depths of their playbook, and ended up beating UCLA with it.

On second-and-10 at the UCLA 16, quarterback Jake “The Snake” Plummer pitched right to tailback J.R. Redmond, then drifted left, sneaking into the Bruins secondary. Redmond pulled up on his phony run and passed back to Plummer, who caught the ball and headed to the end zone on a serpentine course, if you will, for a 16-yard, go-ahead touchdown reception.