Hours before Drew Allar announced that he was returning to Penn State for the 2025 season, backup quarterback Beau Pribula departed the team to enter the transfer portal in search of a starting job. Pribula acknowledged how difficult of a decision it was to leave the team amidst a College Football Playoff run, but he did it for a reason and on Sunday night that mission was fulfilled.
On Sunday night, one day after Penn State advanced to the CFP quarterfinals with a 38-10 win over SMU at Beaver Stadium, Pribula announced his commitment to Missouri. The redshirt sophomore quarterback, who has backed up Allar each of the past two seasons, was ready to be a starting quarterback, and with only so many starting jobs available each offseason, he felt he had to enter the portal early to secure one.
Pribula is almost certain to head into next season as the starting QB for head coach Eli Drinkwitz, replacing three-year starter Brady Cook who expended his final year of eligibility in 2024. Cook’s backup, Drew Pyne, who has spent time at Arizona State and Notre Dame still has eligibility remaining but struggled mightily in relief of Cook this season.
In Columbia, Pribula will likely serve as a bridge to another Pennsylvania quarterback, 2025 four-star Matt Zollers. A top 100 recruit in the 2025 high school class, Zollers chose the Tigers over the Nittany Lions and now Drinkwitz won’t be forced to rush him onto the field in his freshman season.
While he’ll delay it for Zollers, Pribula did expedite the collegiate debut of a 2024 true freshman, Ethan Grunkemeyer. The four-star recruit was elevated to QB2 in Happy Valley with Pribula’s departure and he made saw fourth-quarter action in Saturday’s blowout win.
With a spread system that can accentuate the talents of an athletic quarterback, Pribula should be set up to thrive at Mizzou, but the jump from gadget-package Big Ten backup to SEC starter is significant.