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Oregon State starting quarterback Darell Garretson, center, is helped off the field after suffering an injury in the second half of an NCAA college football game against Utah, in Corvallis, Ore., on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016. Utah won 19-14.

(AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez)

CORVALLIS -- Oregon State starting quarterback Darell Garretson is out for the rest of the regular season with an ankle injury sustained in Saturday's loss to No. 19 Utah, coach Gary Andersen announced Monday during his weekly press conference.



Backup Conor Blount, who was on crutches with a brace on his left knee Monday, is also out for at least this week's game at No. 5 Washington, which means Marcus McMaryion will start for the Beavers in Seattle.



"He knows it's his team right now," Andersen said of McMaryion. "He'll be a leader. He'll take care of his business. He'll have high expectations for himself."



McMaryion, a sophomore, entered Saturday's game late in the fourth quarter after both Garretson and Blount went out, directing a touchdown drive to cut the Utes' lead to 19-14. He finished 5 of 9 for 76 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Jarmon.



McMaryion is more experienced than a typical third-stringer, as he's played in nine career games and started last season's Civil War. But his spot on the depth chart has been in flux for most of his career, with Seth Collins beating him out for the starting job last fall, Nick Mitchell initially taking over the No. 1 spot when Collins sustained a knee injury last October, Garretson winning the battle in the spring and Blount, a walk-on, passing him for the backup job a few weeks ago. In his career, McMaryion has completed 42 percent of his passes for 479 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.



"Just like Coach A said, it's the next man up," McMaryion said following Monday's practice. "That happened to be me and that's my number, so I'm just gonna go out there to do what I can to put my team in the best position to win."



Andersen said true freshman Mason Moran will also get practice reps behind McMaryion. Collins, who started seven games at quarterback last season but has since moved to receiver, could also be an option to take snaps. He completed 52 percent of his passes for 936 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions last season and was also the Beavers' leading rusher with 580 yards and eight scores.



"I don't think it's gonna be any surprise attack if Seth plays a little quarterback with what he's done in the past," Andersen said. "So we'll see where it takes us."



Perhaps the piece of news that best illustrates the state of of the new quarterback pecking order is that leading the scout team moving forward will be Chuckie Keeton, the former Utah State signal-caller who is now an OSU quality control coach. Yet for better or worse, co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kevin McGiven is experienced with managing a rash of injuries at the position.



During the 2014 season at Utah State, McGiven needed to prepare and start his fourth-string quarterback. One of the signal-callers who had gotten hurt earlier in that season? Garretson, who sustained a season-ending knee injury after stepping in for Keeton when he went down for the second consecutive year.



"I don't know what a season would like now without a little bit of adversity at the quarterback position," McGiven said. "So we'll get it figured out."



The injury prematurely ends a largely trying season for Garretson, who completed 50 percent of his passes for 617 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions in his OSU debut campaign and did not reach 100 yards passing in his last three games. Blount replaced Garretson in back-to-back games against Boise State and Colorado, the first time due to an injury and the second time with the Beavers trailing 30-6 late in the second quarter. Against Utah, Garretson completed just one of his first 16 throws for one yard and one interception.



Next, McMaryion will attempt to revitalize an OSU passing attack that on Monday Andersen bluntly assessed as "horrible. The Beavers rank last in the nation in team quarterback rating (90.41) and 121st out of 128 teams in passing offense with 146 yards per game.



-- Gina Mizell | @ginamizell