James Franklin on Beau Pribula stepping in after Drew Allar injury: 'He's a winner'

Beau Pribula found himself unexpectedly thrown into the spotlight Saturday against Wisconsin. The Penn State backup quarterback was asked to step in after Drew Allar went down with a knee injury toward the end of the first half.

Pribula rose to the occasion, going on to lead the Nittany Lions to a 28-13 win as he closed out the game. He finished an efficient 11-of-13 passing for 98 yards and a touchdown in addition to rushing for 28 yards.

Pribula took a while to settle in, but went on to lead Penn State on a pair of touchdown drives in the fourth quarter and earned praise from coach James Franklin.

“I’m proud of him,” Franklin said. “He’s a winner. He accepts his role and is battling every week to be the starting quarterback. Makes plays with his feet, his mind and his arm. I couldn’t be more proud of him. He’s a big time player and he’s unselfish in a time in college football that a lot of guys are selfish.”

Pribula had spent the past two seasons backing up Allar but appeared sparingly in 16 games combined between 2023 and 2024. He showed great poise stepping up in the circumstances to ensure the Nittany Lions remained undefeated.

The redshirt sophomore gave credit to his quarterbacks coach afterward for always having him prepared no matter the circumstances.

“My coach, Danny O’Brien, does a great job of keeping the mindset of preparing us to start,” he said. “So it really wasn’t hard. Just had to settle in a little bit. My teammates had my back. Thankfully, we’ll walk out of here with a dub. It was a great atmosphere.”

It’s unclear whether Allar will be able to make his return for next week as Penn State returns home to host No. 4 Ohio State. If he isn’t, then the Nittany Lions will once again count on Pribula in what should be the biggest game of the year to date.

Regardless of how things play out, Beau Pribula is thankful to have gotten the win Saturday. If he has to be counted on again, he’ll continue to do his best for his team.

“I didn’t want to let my teammates down,” he said. “We work to hard to give up something like that. Just come in and do my job and that’s all I have to do. Keep these wins coming.”