Beau Pribula: ‘Nobody flinched’ after Drew Allar injury

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State football rebounded after its loss to Michigan last week, defeating the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 27-6 inside Beaver Stadium on senior day. The Nittany Lions bounced back from adversity in more ways than one on Saturday afternoon. Not only did Penn State pick itself up off the mat following a gut-wrenching loss last weekend, but the Nittany Lions rallied behind backup QB Beau Pribula after Drew Allar left the game with an injury. Following the victory, Pribula and Penn State football coach James Franklin spoke of how the Nittany Lions QB was able to lead his team to a win after the Drew Allar injury.

Beau Pribula sets the tone off the bench to lead Nittany Lions over Rutgers

It wasn’t the prettiest of starts for Penn State football against the Scarlet Knights on Saturday, which was probably to be expected after an emotional loss to Michigan last weekend. The Nittany Lions only led 10-6 going into the locker room, and in many ways, Rutgers controlled the first half.

Things could have gone from bad to worse for Penn State at the start of the third quarter when starting QB Drew Allar left the game with an injury on the Nittany Lions’ first possession. Allar would emerge from the medical tent moments later but did not return to the game.

For a team that came up short of its Big Ten title and Playoff expectations this season, it could have been easy to succumb to the letdown in that moment. But rather than fold, the Nittany Lions rallied behind backup QB Beau Pribula to 17 second-half points.

Pribula made an instant impact off the bench for Penn State, ripping off a 39-yard run on his first play in relief of Allar. “I think it was super important having an explosive play like that on the first play being in, just to set the tone,” Pribula said after the game.

Pribula led the Nittany Lions on three consecutive scoring drives to close out the 27-6 win. The York native only completed one pass for nine yards on the afternoon, but led Penn State football in rushing with 8 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown.

“It was really good,” Pribula said of what felt like to lead his team to victory. “I was super proud of the guys for really having my back. Nobody flinched in the huddle, and that really made my job easier.”

James Franklin praises his backup QB following Drew Allar injury

Beau Pribula wasn’t the only one pleased with his performance on Saturday. Penn State football coach James Franklin spoke highly of his backup QB, who was thrust into action after the Drew Allar injury.

“Obviously, with Drew getting banged up, Beau Pribula came in and really did a great job, specifically with his legs, and gave us a little bit more diversity in the running game, which I think was helpful for us,” Franklin said after the game.

Specifically, James Franklin pointed to Pribula’s ability to create plays on the ground as one of the keys to the win.

“When Drew got hurt and Beau came in, it opens up some things in the run game for you,” he said. “You’re able to do some different things there. We were planning on playing both of them anyway, we started out early, and we’ve had that plan the last couple of weeks, but we called it earlier.”

“There was some of our zone read stuff that we do,” Franklin said when asked specifically about what Pribula brought to the game. “There were some of the similar things that we did against Iowa, that we thought there was carryover and made sense. But I think you guys have seen it all year long, too. When Beau would come into the game, they [defenses] have to respect the zone. It changes how you call the game defensively. There’s no doubt about that, and Drew has done more of that this year, which has been really good as the season’s gone on.”

You can watch the full remarks from James Franklin on the Basic Blues Nation YouTube page.

With short rest this week, the Nittany Lions will wait to see if Drew Allar is good enough to go against Michigan State on Friday. If not, Beau Pribula will be called upon to lead the way once again.

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