Quarterback recruiting is volatile. The transfer portal amplifies it exponentially, which makes it more impressive that the Penn State kept Beau Pribula, its talented backup, on the roster in the offseason.
It is not by mistake that the redshirt sophomore is still with the Nittany Lions.
When it comes to roster retention, Penn State thrives because a lot of players get on the field, and not only in blowouts. That philosophy is a large reason why the Nittany Lions were able to rally from a halftime deficit behind Pribula at Wisconsin last weekend and remain undefeated entering Saturday’s noon showdown with Ohio State, and its impact is even deeper with starter Drew Allar‘s status in question.
Transfer quarterbacks often command a lot in this NIL world. Pribula would have had plenty of suitors because of what he did at Central York (Pa.) High as a dual-threat player who threw for more than 5,800 yards and 73 touchdowns and ran for 1,227 yards and 33 touchdowns in his career, and the flashes that he showed last season with the Nittany Lions.
Other programs would not hold it against Pribula for being a backup at Penn State, because he was in the same class as Allar — a former five-star recruit, as the 2022 cycle‘s No. 1 quarterback — who was the returning starter.
But Pribula stayed.
