Beau Pribula transferred out of Penn State before the Nittany Lions started their 2025 College Football Playoff run. Now at Missouri, the quarterback's role as a starter and significant playing time is still under question.
Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz reportedly said that Pribula and Sam Horn will both play at quarterback in the Thursday, Aug. 28 season opener against Central Michigan. According to ESPN's Chris Low, Drinkwitz wants to evaluate their in-game performance before announcing and sticking with a consistent starter.
NEWS: Missouri will play both Beau Pribula and Sam Horn in the opener against Central Arkansas, @ClowESPN reports👀
— On3 (@On3sports) August 20, 2025
"Drinkwitz wants the competition to continue from there so that he can evaluate both in game action." https://t.co/GWlhNSMBy7 pic.twitter.com/VjTL0i1kra
“Yeah, I don’t have the timeline yet on the decision,” Drinkwitz said, according to On3. “. . . Everybody else is pressed about week one. I’m not really pressed about it. I’m pressed on who’s going to reveal themselves in the starting quarterback. I think you know, they’re both playing really well from a statistical standpoint, from a touchdown-interception ratio, from a completion percentage, from a third down percentage."
The two quarterbacks have been competing throughout camp, but neither has outshined the other enough to earn a definite starting spot. According to Drinkwitz, Pribula and Horn have stepped up their game in the last three days as he challenged them starting in Saturday's scrimmage.
Not only have they performed at their best, but they have also stepped up in terms of leadership. After quarterback Matt Zollers, the pair vying for the starting role ran into the end zone to celebrate right alongside the team despite not being on the field.
The need for a starter, while urgent, isn't something Drinkwitz wants to rush. Having a strong start to the season doesn't mean a No. 1 quarterback needs to be installed immediately.
“They need all of us, need urgency, to raise our level, because, again, we didn’t start fast enough," Drinkwitz said. "So there’s got to be urgency when you show up and play, but that doesn’t mean I need urgency to make a decision and force the wrong thing to happen.”
Horn, a redshirt junior at Missouri, did not play in 2024 due to injury. He saw minimal time across four games in 2022 and 2023. The Tiger has three out of eight passing completions for 54 yards, one interception, and one touchdown playing behind starter Brady Cook. He is also a pitcher for Missouri's baseball team and saw action in two games in 2023.
Pribula saw some action behind Drew Allar in 2024 at Penn State. He completed 26 of 35 passes for 275 yards and five touchdowns. The then-backup quarterback also had 38 carries for 242 yards and four rushing touchdowns.