It happened countless times during Stanford's Rose Bowl run last season.

The Cardinal would face a third down, so they'd dial up a play with several options for Christian McCaffrey. Quarterback Kevin Hogan would survey the defense at the line of scrimmage and adjust Stanford's plan accordingly. During a season in which the Cardinal averaged 40.9 points per game -- a conference-best during Pac-12 play -- Hogan rarely botched the complicated operation.

“Kevin would set the perfect protection, he would set the perfect match-up, and he would deliver a perfect ball,” Stanford offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgrem remembers. “And then there went Christian.”

McCaffrey recorded the first 2,000-yard rushing and 1,000-yard receiving season in NCAA history. The Cardinal also converted on 54.7 percent of their third down tries in 2015 -- the league's top mark by a wide margin. Ask coach David Shaw about this exceptional efficiency, and he'll reference advanced stats that Stanford keeps, which track quarterbacks' effectiveness in switching plays and directing traffic under the pressure of third down.

"[Hogan's] success rate was really, really high," Shaw said. "It was rare that he got us into the wrong play -- it only happened a handful of times throughout the whole year. He was outstanding."

Well, Hogan is gone now, and Stanford is hoping that its third down efficiency hasn't graduated with him. That was a major issue the last time the Cardinal replaced a stalwart at quarterback: After Andrew Luck led Stanford to a 53 percent third down conversion rate in 2011, the team's efficiency plummeted to 38 percent in 2012. The offense struggled for much of that year.

McCaffrey's return should theoretically insulate the Cardinal from a similar drop, but even though the do-it-all running back is an essential piece of the puzzle, he can't operate alone: New quarterbacks Ryan Burns and Keller Chryst must still effectively replace the decisional glue of their predecessor.

Stanford's first six games -- against Kansas State, USC, UCLA, Washington, Washington State and Notre Dame -- may make the toughest opening stretch in the country. Burns, the starter, and Chryst, who will also play his share of series, must do their share. The two begin their acclimatization efforts against a Wildcats defense that returns nine starters on Friday.

"We're going to give those guys what they're ready for," Shaw said. "Thankfully, they're ready for quite a bit. You're talking about a fourth-year senior and a third-year junior. They've both been around the offense for a long time now, and they know it really well."

McCaffrey also thinks that Burns and Chryst -- both of whom check in at 6-foot-5 and 235 pounds with strong arms -- have undergone adequate training to manage Stanford's intricate playbook and all of its potential variations effectively.

"People forget that these quarterbacks are the same people who learned from Hogan," McCaffrey said. "That's how college football works: Great players come and go, and they teach those below them before they leave. Both Ryan and Keller learned under an unbelievable player."

Bloomgren points out that both quarterbacks are physically capable of replicating another specific X-factor that Hogan brought to the table: Scrambling ability. Hogan set Stanford's career rushing record for a quarterback, and his legs rescued the Cardinal in at least one game -- a narrow win at Washington State -- last season.

"[Burns and Chryst] have the physical tools," Bloomgren said. "They're both big fast men, and that's something that's always going to be part of this offense now. It just needs to be -- it puts too much stress on defenses. You'll see both of them running in some form or fashion."

And they'll both have plenty to prove. The Cardinal anticipate that defenses will pay extra attention to McCaffrey this season. It'll be a reaction to the running back's dominant 2015 and to the current unknown at quarterback, and the challenge will start against Kansas State's veteran unit. This isn't a nonconference patsy; it's an immediate test for Stanford's new faces.

"With people keying on Christian, other guys will have to come through," Shaw said.

That first "other guy" was Hogan last year. Burns and Chryst will try to step into those big shoes now, and there won't be much margin for error.