Beau Pribula is far away from Happy Valley and quite happily so. With Drew Allar’s return as the starter for 2025 for the Nittany Lions, Pribula’s decision was all but a surprise. A transfer that depicted a major flaw of the portal was the highlight of Pribula’s Penn State story. You can blame him as a fan, but it’s never easy to choose the alternative when you’re on the other side of the fence. Pribula made enough flashes of brilliance to prove his worth as a Power 4 starter. He was worth way more than a backup, spark-plugging a program from behind. So, moving on was inevitable. But what’s next? Will he still be a victim of faith, standing behind an intense QB competition in Missouri?

It’s too early to despond. Pribula is battling it out quite well following the departure of Brady Cook. But the guy on the other side seems to be no less than a killing beast as well. Sam Horn, the veteran Tigers QB, could finally breathe a sigh of relief, thinking it was his time if head coach Eliah Drinkwitz hadn’t grabbed the highest-rated Penn State product in the room. But no bad blood! It’s what it is. Horn takes the competition seriously but never unhealthily. He will fight his tail off.

What does it mean for Pribula and his only purpose in signing with Mizzou? Insider John Miller gave a brief rundown of the current intensity of the competition: “I did think it was interesting that he said, ‘Beau was every bit what we expected.’ And in fact, I think he was a better passer than what we had anticipated, offensive player of the day in one period in the very next practice. By the way, Sam came back, battled back, and was named offensive player of the day. I think he had three touchdowns. Beau Pribula had four touchdowns in that other scrimmage.”

Coach Drinkwitz isn’t going to a lopsided review of the situation yet, keeping both of his options on the same page. But as the analyst picked it out, the judgment will be very minute. The practices will get stickier, riskier, and, most importantly, more dynamic from here. The Missouri coach gets to make a call this fall.

“So, even though he says I know Pribula would have a little bit of a learning curve and all of that stuff, he thinks he’s an excellent leader, obviously very dynamic with his feet, sound solid decision maker. So, very excited about those two guys continuing to lead,” John continued, explaining the upheaval battle, “From this point on, everything is judged, so not just how, of course, they play on the field, their leadership, everything is going to be judged.”

However, given how the Missouri head coach went out of his way to tag the new $1.5 million investment out of the Penn State as a better passer, John thinks it’s a sign. Yes, no matter how balanced he looked while approaching the two quarterbacks tally, Drinkwitz gave in some early crumbs to chew over. “He’s probably the leader in the clubhouse at this point, as it seemed like early in the process,” the Locked on Mizzou host made an admission.

But in case things don’t go Pribula’s way, at least his former head coach doesn’t hold grudges.

James Franklin came clean on the Beau Pribula controversy 

Pribula has primarily decided to hit the portal to stand and shine as a frontman in the center. But destiny took him to another tricky ball game to win. As the spring goes on, Pribula looks like his best so far. But the tables can turn anytime if Sam Horn takes the matter into his hands. Will he then sigh over, turning his back on his former school ahead of their do-or-die fight in the semis?

Well, he may or may not, but Franklin is at peace with his move. Franklin wasn’t in the dark about what was coming next after the Drew Allar decision. In fact, he chatted with Beau for weeks over his intent to hit the portal. He never saw Pribula being desperate over his departure. Rather, the coach said Pribula didn’t at all want to leave before the season capped off. But it’s the mess of the system that forced him to do so.

“Beau Pribula was our backup QB, and Beau’s dream school was to come to Penn State… Beau did not want to leave, but as a QB, there are only so many spots, and schools that he was interested in were filling up, and he had to choose,” James Franklin pointed out on On3. However, all these are a foregone conclusion. Now, Missouri and Beau are the new pair, smoking hot, regardless of him winning the job in the debut year.