Penn State QB Beau Pribula on ‘amazing’ freshman season, relationship with Drew Allar

Beau Pribula has spent the last year living what he called a “childhood dream.”

Pribula was a Penn State fan before he was a standout quarterback at Central York. He has photos as a kid wearing the blue jersey and white helmet to prove it.

Now, he wears that uniform for real. Pribula, after committing to Penn State in August 2020 and enrolling last January, just wrapped up his first season in Happy Valley.

“It’s been amazing being a part of this Penn State program,” Pribula told PennLive at the team’s Rose Bowl media day last week before James Franklin’s team beat Utah, 35-21, on Monday in Pasadena, Calif. “It’s a childhood dream of mine to be a Penn State Nittany Lion. And it’s lived up to everything I thought it would be.”

It’s been a year of personal development for Pribula.

Pribula came to Penn State as a three-star prospect after lighting it up with Central York. The 6-foot-2 quarterback led the Panthers to a 30-4 record in three seasons, winning a trio of league championships. As a senior, he threw for 2,676 yards and 33 touchdowns and ran for an additional 420 yards and nine scores.

Pribula’s pedigree was strong. But he wasn’t the only sought-after quarterback in Penn State’s 2022 recruiting class. Pribula enrolled early with Drew Allar, one of the highest-rated signees in the Franklin era.

Pribula and Allar became close and acclimated to the quarterback room, led by sixth-year senior Sean Clifford.

“As two quarterbacks enrolling at the same time, it’s been a special relationship,” Pribula said of Allar. “We’ve been roommates all year long on the road. The whole quarterback room is really tight. We went bowling a few weeks ago. We like spending time with each other. It’s a culture in that quarterback room. Sean did a great job of establishing that when Drew and I got here, and Drew and I took part in that and learned from that.”

That culture was noticeable throughout the season. There was a camaraderie on the practice field and on gameday with Pribula, Allar and Christian Veilleux celebrating Clifford’s big plays. That energy was the same when Allar got in the game and made his mark.

Clifford started all 13 games, finishing his career with 279 yards and two touchdowns against the Utes in “The Granddaddy of Them All.” Allar appeared in 10 games, including Rose Bowl mop-up duty. Veilleux, who played in three games, transferred to Pitt in December. Pribula served as the team’s third-stringer in California.

Pribula didn’t appear in any games, according to Penn State’s records. But that lack of playing time didn’t frustrate Pribula, who was named a developmental offensive player of the week Sept. 27.

“Beau is an unbelievable quarterback and person,” offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich said at Rose Bowl media day Dec. 16 in State College. “His inner drive and competitiveness is as good as I’ve ever been around. It’s impressive. He’s an awesome kid to be around. He takes care of his business. He’s going to continue to compete, and that’s really been the message: put your head down and compete.”

That’s all Pribula is focused on.

“I just try to be in the moment,” Pribula said. “I think that’s something that helped a lot with early enrolling and taking it step by step. I’m not trying to focus too much about the future. I wanted to take winter workouts, spring ball, summer workouts, fall camp, all of it step by step. … Being where your feet are is important.”

On Monday, that was in Pasadena. And with winter workouts on the horizon, that’ll be State College as Pribula prepares for a second season with the same mindset.