QB can block, but he has better things to do
When quarterback Keller Chryst faced Arizona a year ago, he replaced Kevin Hogan for one snap and contributed a play that his Stanford teammates talked about for weeks.
It wasn’t a touchdown pass or a run for a first down. It was a block.
He used his considerable size — 6-foot-5, 233 pounds — to blast a cornerback and spring Christian McCaffrey for a 25-yard gain. After the pancake block, Chryst ran downfield to engage another blocker, looking more like a tight end than a quarterback.
On Saturday night at Arizona Stadium, blocking won’t be high on Chryst’s list of priorities, although he said with a laugh that “it may come up.” He’ll make his first college start in place of Ryan Burns and hopes to jump-start an offense that statistically is the nation’s worst, averaging 299 yards a game.
The Palo Alto High alum found out Monday that he would start. In his typical low-key manner, he played down the significance of becoming the No. 1 man.
“Naturally, I was excited, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to execute and come out with a win on Saturday,” he said. “That’s all we’re focused on.”
Chryst, like Burns, was one of the nation’s top quarterback prospects coming out of high school. Chryst threw for 7,326 yards and 85 touchdowns in his prep career and was Hogan’s main backup last year.
So it was a mild surprise when Burns beat him out in training camp. Now, with Stanford (4-3, 2-3 Pac-12) struggling, the coaches thought it was time to see what Chryst could do for an extended period. Head coach David Shaw said he had no compunction about giving him his first start on the road.
“He’s been in raucous environments, and he’s been on the road,” Shaw said. “It would be one thing if he was playing his first game, period. He’s been in the fire.”
Chryst joins a long line of Bay Area high school alums who have started at quarterback for Stanford, led by John Brodie (Oakland Tech) and Jim Plunkett (James Lick). Among the others were Don Bunce (Woodside), John Paye (Menlo School), Trent Edwards (Los Gatos) and T.C. Ostrander (Menlo-Atherton).
Although the offense badly needs a spark, the coaches have stressed that they don’t need for him to think he has to play like Hogan or Andrew Luck.
“It’s something they preach through all the positions on the field, not doing too much and just executing,” Chryst said.
He’s anticipating a frenzy of Arizona blitzes, something the undersize-but-quick Wildcats do whether they’re going against an experienced starter or a rookie.
“It’s just part of the game of football,” he said. “We’ll be able to handle that and whatever else they happen to throw at us.”
He’ll look for counsel from Burns between series. “We’ve been supportive of each other throughout this whole process,” he said. “He’s always been there, and I feel like I’ve been there for him.”