Stanford’s Shaw: QB duel may stretch into regular season

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LOS ANGELES — Stanford’s quarterback competition may extend into the regular season, head coach David Shaw said Friday.

The Cardinal open at home against Kansas State on Sept. 2, so it’s possible that both redshirt sophomore Keller Chryst and redshirt junior Ryan Burns will play in that game. They are dueling to replace Kevin Hogan, who was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs.

“One of the things we’ve learned is you’ve got to let it play out,” Shaw said.

Previously, he had said he hoped to name a starter the week before the first game. But Chryst and Burns appear evenly matched going into training camp, which starts Aug. 8.

“Both guys are tall, both are athletic, and both have strong arms with great releases,” Shaw said at the Pac-12 media days.

The duel apparently will be decided by what goes on in the players’ brains rather than by how strongly or accurately they throw, he indicated.

“They gotta drive the car,” Shaw said. “It’s about who can make the right audible on third down and get us in the right play. Who can get us from one running play into the next running play? Who can see the blitzing coming and change the play? Who can be the most efficient guy and make it about the other players, not themselves?

“That’s the guy that’s going to win the job. It’s going to be more than completion percentage.”

Stanford head football coach David Shaw before a baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks in San Francisco, Monday, April 18, 2016. Stanford head football coach David Shaw before a baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks in San Francisco, Monday, April 18, 2016. Photo: Jeff Chiu, Associated Press Photo: Jeff Chiu, Associated Press Image 1 of / 10 Caption Close Stanford’s Shaw: QB duel may stretch into regular season 1 / 10 Back to Gallery

The foremost among those “other players,” of course, is 2015 Heisman Trophy runner-up Christian McCaffrey, who gained an NCAA-record 3,864 all-purpose yards last year.

“We need the ball in Christian McCaffrey’s hands,” Shaw said. “We need a (quarterback) that can dictate the protection at the line of scrimmage and handle the running game at the line of scrimmage. In the spring, both guys were doing that at a high level.”

Asked if he might lighten the load somewhat for McCaffrey to avoid overtaxing him, Shaw said, “Are you kidding? I’m going to give him some of my responsibilities. The guy’s handled everything else.

“Absolutely not. You have a great player; the last thing you want to do is pump the brakes. You want to push the accelerator. We’re going to push him harder and further and see if there are more things he can do.”

That said, Shaw said he wants a larger role for the stunningly quick Bryce Love, a backup tailback last year. “He’s going to go from being a spot player to a full-time player for us,” he said.

That will include using him and McCaffrey at the same time, with one or the other possibly split wide.

McCaffrey, who rushed for a school-record 2,019 yards, is “a little bit wiser,” Shaw said. “He’s stronger and faster. He’s still growing. We know he’ll have a target on his back, but that’s why you have teammates.”

As an example, he cited the Notre Dame game late last season. The Irish held McCaffrey under 100 yards rushing, but by concentrating on him, they allowed Hogan to throw four touchdown passes and Devon Cajuste to make several huge catches. The Cardinal won 38-36 on Conrad Ukropina’s 45-yard field goal as time expired.

Shaw didn’t care much that his team was picked, for the first time in the 56-year history of the preseason poll, to win the Pac-12 title.

“Regardless of what anybody says, we still take the underdog mentality,” he said. “When people mention football schools, our name doesn’t come up. ... We’re still establishing who we are. We’re not there yet.”

Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @tomgfitzgerald