Oregon State quarterback Chance Nolan is “day-to-day” after suffering a neck strain in the Beavers’ 42-16 loss to Utah on Saturday.

Coach Jonathan Smith met with reporters on Monday ahead of Oregon State’s Week 6 matchup with Stanford, and said they’ll evaluate Nolan throughout the week. Smith wants to see Nolan on the practice field before committing to a quarterback one way or the other. The fifth-year junior has started 17 straight games at quarterback for Oregon State. If Nolan can’t go, Ben Gulbranson would be the guy at quarterback for the Beavers.

“Chance gets injured at the end of the first quarter on a scramble, and he’s kind of a day-to-day,” Smith said. “We’ll see how this works the first couple days of this week in practice. He was not able to continue after the first quarter.

“We’ll see how he looks in practice. He’s going to need to practice some and so we’ll make that call at the end of the week.”

Nolan struggled mightily against Utah before exiting the game. He finished with just two completions for 26 yards to Oregon State receivers and two completions to Utah corner Clark Phillips III in his seven attempts. The first interception set up the Utes inside the Beavers’ 20 for their first score of the game. The second interception to Phillips was returned for a Utah score.

Smith was not pleased with the second pick.

“The first interception, I think the DB makes a better play than the route we ran,” Smith said. “We’re trying to get him out of his back-peddle. He sat on it. Chance is keeping the safety in the middle of the field and he’s throwing the thing on time, trusting a one-on-one matchup. The guy made a better play than the route we ran.

“The second one, did not like that decision at all. (Phillips) is squatting on it. (Nolan’s) gotta recognize that the corner’s squatting on it and get to another option.”

Gulbranson’s went 12-for-20 on his passes, putting up 177 yards but also being intercepted twice as well.

“He did some solid things,” Smith said. “That’s not an easy environment for your first true quality reps with a game still in the balance. Just can’t have the critical errors. That comes with the position.”

Smith also said running back Trey Lowe is getting “closer” to a return. Defensive lineman Joe Golden did not play in the Utah game after a pregame injury, Smith said they’ll wait and see on his status for the game. Oregon State travels to Stanford for an 8 p.m. PT kick on ESPN.