Chris Brown OSU.jpg

Chris Brown (1) has medically retired from football but is still enrolled at Oregon State and plans to graduate, Gary Andersen said. Fellow running back Deltron Sands has been dismissed from the team.

(AP Photo)

Oregon State football coach Gary Andersen said Thursday during a conference call that running backs Chris Brown and Deltron Sands are no longer on the team.

A team spokesman confirmed that Brown, a junior, had medically retired. Andersen said Brown is still enrolled in school and intends to graduate. Sands has been dismissed from the Beavers for a violation of team rules, a source close to the program told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Brown finishes his college career with 73 carries and 376 rushing yards. He played seven games last season and tallied 141 yards on 32 carries while dealing with injuries.

Sands was one of four incoming freshmen on offense that Oregon State did not plan to redshirt at the start of the 2015 season. He tallied 23 yards on six carries before being diagnosed with a season-ending injury. At the time of the news, Oregon State announced it would apply to get Sands a medical redshirt.

Running back is expected to be one of Oregon State's deeper positions in 2016 despite the graduation of Storm Barrs-Woods, the team's leading rusher at the position (99 carries for 502 yards).

Sands suffered a season-ending injury after beginning his freshman season without a redshirt.

The Beavers will return sophomore Ryan Nall (73 carries for 466 yards), junior Damien Haskins (seven carries for 65 yards) and junior Tim Cook, a three-star transfer from Eastern Arizona College who missed last season with an injury.

OSU will also add junior college transfer Kyle White in the spring and freshman Artavis Pierce (Auburndale, Fla.) in the fall.

Andersen said that versatile sophomore Paul Lucas, who moved to running back toward the end of last season, will play mostly at receiver during the spring due to running back depth. Jaylynn Bailey will be moved to H-back.

"It's very competitive," Andersen said. "At the end of the day by the time we go play, we need three really, really talented running backs to be able to win in this conference, in my opinion."

Oregon State finished sixth in the Pac-12 in rushing offense last year, averaging

177.7

yards per game.

The news on Brown and Sands puts Oregon State at nine departures this offseason.

The most recent and notable departures are safety Justin Strong (Montana), linebacker Rommel Mageo (Mississippi) and quarterback/wide receiver Seth Collins (Northern Illinois), who have transferred to other programs over the past two months.

Mageo and Strong started a combined 17 games last season. Mageo led the Beavers with 87 tackles and two interceptions, while Strong finished fourth on the team with 54 tackles in eight games before a concussion ended his season. Both will be eligible to play at their respective schools next season.

Andersen addressed the defensive departures during the conference call, saying, "There was competition. Sometimes when there's competition, people don't want to be part of competition. Everybody that is physically able and/or deserves to be part of the program is with us and that's the bottom line."

Collins, who started seven games at quarterback and returned from an injury to play in the season finale against Oregon, must sit out for one season. His 653 rushing yards were a team-high, but he struggled with accuracy and completed 52.2 percent of his passes.

Oregon State begins spring practice on Monday, March 28 and will play its spring game on April 16.

-- Danny Moran