... coach Chip Kelly was cool and professional Tuesday when assessing Arizona State wide receiver Aaron Pflugrad. Tough, hard-nosed, intelligent, runs great routes, competitor, Kelly said. "He's going to be a test for us," he said, referring to Saturday night's game between the Sun Devils and No. 5 Ducks at Sun Devil Stadium.
As most know, there's much more to the story. Pflugrad could have been a starter for Oregon last season after a 2009 spring game in which he had 107 receiving yards including a 60-yard touchdown reception.
Robin Pflugrad lost his job as Oregon's wide receivers coach after the 2008 season, ultimately leading to what Kelly termed as a "family decision" for his son to transfer. It was no surprise that Aaron landed in Tempe, where he grew up when his father was ASU's receivers coach from 1995-2000 under Bruce Snyder. He redshirted as a transfer last season, unable to help in the Sun Devils' fifth consecutive loss to Oregon, 44-21 in Eugene, where Aaron attended Sheldon High School. If that streak is to end this season, Pflugrad likely will need to be an even bigger factor than he was in the first three4 games, in which he had a team-high 15 catches for 165 yards. But being a coach's son, he is too smart to say anything negative about the Ducks.
