Second Penn State spring practice brings confidence, comfort to Beau Pribula

The rep count chart for Beau Pribula in 2022 is straightforward. In his debut season at Penn State, the true freshman quarterback did not see action in any of the Nittany Lions’ 13 games.

The lack of game experience is not indicative of Pribula’s development, though.

Able to enroll early in January 2022, Pribula has accumulated a lengthy and wide-ranging set of experiences. Now competing with Drew Allar to solidify a position filling the vacancy of a four-year starter this spring, it’s all coming into play.

“Having two camps under my belt with last year’s spring ball and fall camp, it is just knowing the offense. Also, the season helped so much in knowing the offense and Coach Yurcich’s schemes and everything,” Pribula said this week. “It’s not learning now. It’s understanding what the play is attacking. Now I can focus more on the defense and just exploiting defenses. It’s been a lot easier.”

A variety of factors have helped contribute to the progress that has positioned Pribula to be part of Penn State’s plans this spring. 

At the forefront is the influence of Sean Clifford, who set a tone of learning universally acknowledged in the room. Now parlaying that into a cooperative, and competitive, environment with Allar, the “iron sharpens iron” mantra has been a consistent theme this spring.

Unique to Pribula, playing Penn State’s top defenses as a scout team quarterback has also come into play. Seeing the same faces this spring, within a unit that has buzzed for its outstanding potential in the second season working under coordinator Manny Diaz, Pribula said he believes the experience is now paying dividends. 

In combination, Pribula has demonstrated an ability, and versatility, that the Nittany Lions believe they can utilize. 

“I think Beau is a very consistent player. He’s accurate, he’s got tremendous feet, he’s very strong in the weight room. So I think he brings a lot of ability,” Yurcich said earlier this spring. “I don’t want to label him as a dual threat because he throws it very well. I think sometimes when label guys as dual threat, you minimize their ability to throw the forward pass. And that’s not the case. 

“Right now we’re trying to build the base offense. And then as you get more into it, I think you can get a little bit more specific in your play design and cater to each quarterback’s strengths.”

In a concurrent storyline, Pribula has also worked to absorb the mentality being imparted from Yurcich. A method that heavily accounts for what defenses are doing, and how to adjust to them, the approach has taken hold.

“He does a really good job explaining what everybody on the offense, what their responsibility is. And so if a defense presents a picture that we don’t like, we can get into Coach Yurcich’s mind and say, ‘Okay, we don’t want to be in this play.’ Or, we want to change something in this play so that we can be better off,” Pribula said. “It makes the offense a lot easier. We’re never really in a bad play. And I think he drills that into us and it’s been really good.”

Bulking up to 208 pounds this offseason, Pribula said he is the heaviest he’s been. But, he added, he also considers himself to be in the best shape of his life. 

Retaining his quickness, while attempting to become more durable, the result has been that of a quarterback making a mark within the Penn State program this spring.

“I think been a really good competition. Those guys are battling, and they’re both doing really good things,” Franklin said this week. “Sometimes it’s hard to compare and contrast because our [first-team] defense is really good and talented. So, who they’re going against is part of it as well. So making sure Drew gets some reps with the twos, and Beau gets some reps with the ones and vice versa, those things are important. 

“But, I think those two guys are both battling. They’re two guys that we’re excited [about], not only for this year but for their futures.”