Keller Chryst is livin’ right. He didn’t win Stanford’s starting job in training camp, and that was the best thing that could have happened to the redshirt sophomore.

Edged out by the slightest of margins, Chryst watched as Ryan Burns was sent to face the lions — and to do it without the benefit of having healthy playmakers around him.

Eventually, the offense became so offensive that Burns was pulled in favor of Chryst … just in time for the lions to get replaced on the schedule by house cats.

Here are the national defensive rankings of the seven teams Burns faced:

12 Colorado

17 Washington

32 Kansas State

38 UCLA

49 USC

51 Washington State

54 Notre Dame

Okay, now here are the national defensive rankings of the five teams Chryst will face (presuming he stays in the lineup):

108 Arizona

99 Oregon State

127 Oregon

123 Cal

128 Rice

Oh, and guess who’s healthy: Yep, Chryst’s first start was the first time Bryce Love and Christian McCaffrey have been healthy/full speed at the same time.

Could Burns have directed the offense to 34 points against Arizona under the same circumstances?

Yep.

Did Burns actually play better in his debut (Kansas State) than Chryst did in his debut (Arizona)?

Absolutely.

Is Burns getting a raw deal?

You could make that case.

Will he get another chance?

Probably not, because Stanford will win all/most of the remaining games, and there’s no chance of a QB change during an uptick in success.

Will the level of competition in the closing month give Stanford an accurate evaluation of Chryst’s ability to lead the Cardinal to a division title next season?

That’s a good question.

(Thank you.)

There is no doubting Chryst’s physical talent. He can deliver the ball anywhere on the field and he has more than enough mobility to extend plays. Related Articles College Hotline: Pac-12 football rewind (it’s all about the state of Washington, and Washington State)

But because of the bizarre, bifurcated nature of the schedule … because Chryst will face five weeks of dreadful defenses … it’s entirely possible that Stanford won’t really know what he’s capable of — either good or bad — until the middle of next season.

Result: Won at Arizona 34-10

Grade: B+

Comment: Yes, the running game returned to form and the defense dominated, but the grades, as I’ve noted numerous times, are based on both performance and competition

Arizona is injury-riddled, talent-deficient and winless in conference play. Assign the Cardinal an A-range grade for beating up on a bad team, then what’s left for a victory over a good team.

(Not that Stanford has a chance to record a victory over a good team in November: Oregon State, Oregon, Cal and Rice are a combined 10-22.)

*** Given the topic addressed above, it’s worth noting that I asked David Shaw exactly that question last week after he announced the quarterback change:

With the stark disparity between the defenses Burns faced and the defenses Chryst will face, was he 1) being fair to Burns and 2) getting an accurate read on Chryst.

“I’m not sure how to answer that,” he said.

That’s a perfectly legitimate response on his part. I’m not sure how he should have answered that, either, because coaches don’t … coaches can’t … treat Opponent A any differently than Opponent B.

(They look at the film, compare the reads/throws the QB should have made to those he did make, and go from there.)

But it also seems like a legitimate issue to track as the Cardinal moves through November and even into the offseason.

I’m not suggesting that Chryst can’t become a high-level Pac-12 quarterback. But what he does in this final month won’t prove he can.

Have you seen Oregon and Cal play defense?

*** Now that we’ve addressed the big picture …

How did Chryst perform against Arizona?

The best that can be said about his debut was that he made no major mistakes, no game-altering miscues, that jeopardized Stanford’s prospects for victory. And that’s not nothing.

But he completed less than 50 percent of his passes, threw for just 104 yards, tossed an interception, took four sacks, missed targets downfield and had game-management issues.

In other words: He looked like a first-time starter.

Said Shaw: “He was not going to be Johnny Unitas out there. We know he’s going to continue to grow.”

*** The Cardinal defense has allowed more than 13 points only twice this season, and both occasions came with starting cornerbacks Alijah Holder and Quenton Meeks unable to play.

(Not that Stanford would have beaten the Washington schools with Holder/Meeks healthy.)

Stanford had occasional trouble containing Arizona quarterback Brandon Dawkins when he became a runner, but on the whole, it was a dominant performance.

Solomon Thomas controlled the line of scrimmage (2.5 tackles for loss), the Cardinal held Arizona to just 286 yards, it produced three turnovers and held the Wildcats to three conversions on third down (out of 14 opportunities).

*** Question of the week:

Are the best players in school history at two different positions — Thomas up front and Meeks on the edge — playing together on this defense?

Next up: vs. Oregon State

Matchup: If it’s not over by halftime, it should be over by the end of the third quarter … and if it’s not over by the end of the third quarter, Stanford has major problems.

The Beavers have improve over the course of the past few weeks and have a top-tier tailback in Ryan Nall. But they’re average (at best) on the lines of scrimmage and have major issues at quarterback.

Starter Darell Garretson is out for the year, and backup Conor Blount has been hurt. That left third-stringer Marcus McMaryion to face Washington State last week.

McMaryion threw for 327 yards, but most of his success came early, while WSU was going through the motions. Once the Cougars played with urgency, OSU’s offense came to a stop.

Stanford should have little trouble limiting the Beavers to a touchdown or two while the game is in doubt.

*** The Cardinal is favored by two touchdowns, which should be the point spread for the first half:

In two conference road games, the Beavers have lost by 41 (Colorado) and 24 (Washington).

Look for McCaffrey to bust loose a few times, for Love and the receivers to make big plays, for Chryst to look sharp … for Stanford to dominate in every facet.

This is another early start (12:30). But the Hotline would hazard to guess that if you’re running late and show up two minutes before kickoff, you won’t have trouble getting in the stadium.

*** The Hotline podcast is available on iTunes.

*** Here’s episode 6, recently published, with guest Rick Neuheisel, the former Pac-12 coach and TV analyst. We discussed Colorado’s staying power as a North contender, Oregon’s need to reinvent itself, Washington’s return to powerhouse status, UCLA’s search for an offensive identit ty and much more.