Beau Pribula will always remember the first three years of his college football career at Penn State, the school he grew up rooting for. But with his final two years of eligibility, the former Central York quarterback has found a new home.
Pribula committed to Missouri on Sunday evening, per multiple reports, one week after entering the transfer portal and leaving the Penn State program with the Nittany Lions in the College Football Playoff. The redshirt sophomore chose the Tigers over Iowa and other suitors.
After appearing in the first 13 games of Penn State's season as a backup to Drew Allar and change-of-pace option for offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, Pribula became a hot commodity upon entering the portal. He took visits to Missouri, Iowa, UCF and Ole Miss before returning home and calling off a scheduled trip to Indiana.
Missouri is 9-3 this season and will face Iowa in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl on Dec. 30 in Nashville. The Tigers were seeking a replacement for three-year starter Brady Cook, who has gone 25-13 as a starter and thrown for 8,721 yards in his career. Backup QB Drew Pyne, already a two-time transfer after stints at Notre Dame and Arizona State, has two remaining seasons of eligibility as well.
Pribula completed 26 of 35 passes this season for 275 yards and five touchdowns against just one interception. He also rushed 38 times for 242 yards and four scores. In 2023, he threw four TD passes and ran to paydirt six times with 329 total yards on the ground. Some of that production came late in blowout games, but Pribula also shined in relief of Allar on Oct. 26 at Wisconsin, playing the entire second half and completing 11 of 13 passes to lead Penn State to a key road win.
Pribula grew up a Penn State fan and enrolled with the Nittany Lions in January 2022, the first scholarship quarterback to do so under head coach James Franklin. He received glowing reviews in his three years on campus; the day after he entered the portal, Franklin said he would "recruit him all over again" and railed against the sport's jumbled calendar that forced what Pribula called an "impossible" decision.
At Central York, Pribula started for three seasons and led the Panthers to a 30-4 record. Central won the District 3 Class 6A title in 2020 en route to the state final, then posted an undefeated regular season in 2021. Pribula also played basketball early in his high school career.
The day after Pribula entered the portal, Allar announced his intention to return to Penn State for his senior season in 2025. The former five-star prospect helped steer the Nittany Lions on Saturday in their 38-10 home victory over SMU in the College Football Playoff first round, which set up a Dec. 31 trip to the Fiesta Bowl against Boise State. True freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer is serving as Penn State's backup this postseason.
As Pribula continues to support his former teammates from afar, he will prepare to leave Pennsylvania and compete for an SEC starting job in the spring semester. Mizzou opens its 2025 season Saturday, Aug. 30, against Central Arkansas.