This report card comes straight from the department of two-things-can-be-equally-true:

Oregon is terrible, and Stanford played well.

The Ducks have one of the worst pass defenses in the country, and Keller Chryst was more efficient.

The November competition is soft, and the Cardinal has made significant strides …

I’m not sure there is any other way to frame it. The results are the results (three consecutive wins by double digits), but Stanford is beating up on bad teams:

Arizona and the Oregon schools are a combined 2-19 in conference play.

Result: Won at Oregon 52-27

Grade: B+

Comment: Hard to believe that a dominating win in Autzen Stadium would warrant anything but an A+, but things have changed in Eugene — and by changed, I mean collapsed.

The Ducks have to be evaluated for what they are, and that’s a 3-7/1-6 sloppy, inexperienced (OL) minimally-talented (defense) opponent.

I wouldn’t give Stanford and A-range grade for beating up on Oregon State, and there is no difference between the Beavers and Ducks at this moment.

*** Chryst had his best game, by far, and that’s the result of:

1) Porous Oregon defense

2) His own improvement

3) McCaffrey at full speed

4) Stanford’s coaching staff getting more familiar with Chryst and the plays that suit him best.

The biggest difference, in my mind, was his vision: He saw more of the field more consistently.

The moving right, drop-down-a-well TD pass to Michael Rector might have been the best throw I’ve seen him make.

*** Stanford in situational football in Eugene:

Turnover margin: +4

3rd down conversions: 6 of 12

3rd down defense: 2 of 13

Red zone TDs: 5 of 5

Use those numbers in 1,000 computer simulations, and Stanford beats Oregon every time.

*** If you picked JJ Arcega-Whiteside as the breakthrough offense player this season … COME ON DOWN.

He has emerged as one of Chryst’s favorite targets (and was that with Burns, as well). He’s big, he runs well and he has soft hands.

He’s a redshirt freshman with a chance to be one of the most productive receivers Stanford has produced this decade (not that there is a lot of competition).

*** McCaffrey hasn’t, for a variety of reasons, generated the mind-blowing yardage numbers that he did last season, but:

McCaffrey is second in the nation in all-purpose yards at 193 per game, and at that pace over the next three games (including a bowl) would finish with 2,511.

That would be the second-best season in school history.

*** Mentioned this to Todd Husak on my podcast, which will be posted on the Hotline this afternoon:

You could make the case that in defensive tackle Solomon Thomas and cornerback Quenton Meeks, the current Stanford defense has the best players in school history at two positions.

You could also make the case that Thomas’ return next season — and I have no idea if he’s considering a jump to the NFL — is as important as McCaffrey’s (also no idea).

If McCaffrey leaves, and Stanford has Bryce Love, Dalton Schultz, Arcega-Whiteside and Trenton Irwin to fill the (huge) void.

But Thomas? He’s a one-man defensive front.

And the defensive front is kind of important.

Next up: at Cal

The matchup: If you hadn’t heard, kickoff at Memorial Stadium is 2:30 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks.

(Cardinal fans should credit Cal for lobbying the conference office to have the game scheduled for an afternoon window; without the Bears speaking up, it could very well have been 7:30.)

Day game: Good for fans planning to attend.

Pac12Nets: Bad for fans hoping to watch on DirecTV.

*** I have turned the matchup over in my head a dozen times and cannot come up with a reasonable case for the dynamics — and the outcome — being any different than in recent years:

Stanford has a stout defense and will ground-and-pound, while the Bears are awful defensively and one-dimensional on offense.

One-dimensional offenses don’t score consistently against the Cardinal (137.7 rushing ypg in seven wins and 180 rushing ypg in three losses.)

*** Cannot wait to watch Cal receiver Chad Hansen against Meeks, two of the best in the conference at their positions.

The Bears have a handful of other playmakers. I expect them to target Stanford’s safeties and linebackers in the passing game, especially between the hashmarks.

*** The Cardinal opened as a 12-point favorite, although the line has dipped to 10.5/11.

Either way, that’s a significant number for a road team with a rookie quarterback against a team that generally played well at home (the Bears beat Utah, after all).

And yet … I’m not sure it’s enough.

Considering how poorly Cal tackles — the Bears are essentially out of safeties — McCaffrey could have a mammoth game.

Stanford will score touchdowns on the Bears more frequently than Cal will score touchdowns on the Cardinal.

As I picked earlier today in the Cal report card:

Stanford 38, Cal 20.

*** The Hotline podcast is available on iTunes.

*** Here’s episode 8 with Oregonian columnist John Canzano discussing the Ducks’ decline, Mark Helfrich’s future, the Chip Kelly factor and more: