There were plenty of Penn State fans who believed that James Franklin should have hitched his wagon to Beau Pribula rather than Drew Allar when Pribula entered the transfer portal before the 2024 College Football Playoff. Now, with Franklin fired and Allar out for the season, everyone in and around Happy Valley is missing the Nittany Lions’ former backup QB.
However, Pribula’s season likely also came to an end on Saturday in Nashville. The Missouri starting QB got his leg caught underneath a defender while the pile pushed him back, and he went down awkwardly on a fourth-down play by the Vanderbilt goalline. Pribula had an aircast put on his leg before he was carted off and transferred to a wheelchair.
Mizzou QB Beau Pribula was carted off with an apparent leg injury after taking a hit. pic.twitter.com/r3ofxVqxB1
— ESPN (@espn) October 25, 2025
The PA native led Missouri to a 6-1 record and the No. 15 spot in the AP Poll. The Tigers suffered their first loss of the year two weeks ago against Alabama, but bounced back last week with a 23-17 double overtime win at Auburn to set up a ranked matchup with No. 10 Vanderbilt in Week 9.
Missouri QB Beau Pribula potentially out for the season after being carted off
Obviously, Penn State fans, who loved Pribula as he executed wildcat packages for the Nittany Lions last season, will be devastated to see Pribula miss time. However, this injury potentially has further implications for Penn State.
Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz is a top candidate for the Penn State job, and if he were to replace Franklin in Happy Valley, he may bring Pribula and another PA QB back with him. With Pribula and Sam Horn, who battled for the starting job before suffering a long-term injury in Week 1, both out, true freshman Matt Zollers entered the game.
Zollers was the No. 2-ranked player in Pennsylvania for the 2025 recruiting class, a four-star QB from Royersford. He was a top Penn State recruiting target before choosing Drinkwitz and Missouri. He will now have the rest of the season to develop, and if he shows promise, it could make hiring his head coach even more enticing for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State isn’t just attempting to find its next head coach; the rest of the season may also be about finding the program’s next starting quarterback after two and a half seasons of Allar. 2024 four-star Ethan Grunkemeyer is now the starting QB in Happy Valley. Like Zollers he was a top 100 recruit in the country, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be the long-term solution for Penn State.
A redshirt junior, Pribula still has one year of eligibility remaining, so his career is not over, but it is uncertain after his gruesome injury.