James Franklin not surprised by Beau Pribula's play after stepping in for injured Drew Allar

Penn State head coach James Franklin was forced to turn to backup quarterback Beau Pribula while trailing Wisconsin on the road when starter Drew Allar was injured.

Pribula was able to lead the Nittany Lions to a win, playing well in the process. That caught some people by surprise, but not Franklin, who explained following the game that he knew what he was capable of as a quarterback.

“I have a ton of confidence in Beau,” James Franklin said. “He’s a character kid from a character family. Very Talented. Some of his talents are different than what Drew’s are. So, I think that’s one of the things I think it’s really important as a staff and as an offensive coordinator you got to be committed to calling the game differently. That’s easier said than done, right?”

While Beau Pribula has gotten some playing time, he’s typically used as a change-of-pace running option for Penn State. This game saw him take on a much more traditional role and he played well, completing 11 of 13 passes for 98 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 28 yards.

“And we have enough diversity within our offensive scheme, to play the strengths. And the stuff that I try to do is as a reminder, you know, Andy [Kotelnicki], obviously, is an experienced coordinator, but remind him, we’ve got to call the game now based on Beau’s strengths. And I thought we did that,” Franklin said.

“Beau is a character, character, kid, character family. Comes from a great high school program. He’s universally respected in our locker room, from his teammates and coaches. Not surprised one bit. Not surprised one bit that he was able to manufacture yards and points for us when we needed them most.”

One of the biggest things for James Franklin was that Beau Pribula was ready for the moment. Going into a game on the road as a backup while you’re trailing is never easy. So, having players you can trust like him is vital.

“He’s played some significant time in the past, which I think that is, obviously, always really valuable, but in this type of environment, on the road those things are significant, they’re significant for his development. I think they’re significant for our team’s development. You talk about the amount of games we’re playing now, depth across the board at every position is really important,” Franklin said.

“So, not only did we expand the college football schedule, but then we’re also doing it in the Transfer Portal era. So, those two things really conflict with each other. They go against each other, if that’s the right way of saying it. So, that development of your roster and having character guys like that is more important than it’s ever been, and I think it’s more challenging than it’s ever been.”

Penn State is looking to be as healthy as possible for next week’s game against Ohio State. However, if Drew Allar is unable to go, it’s good for James Franklin to have a backup quarterback he can trust.