Urban Meyer: Situation between Penn State football, Beau Pribula ‘broke my heart’

James Franklin and Penn State football are preparing for the program’s first-ever College Football Playoff appearance on Saturday while simultaneously adjusting to a new dynamic at quarterback after backup Beau Pribula entered the transfer portal six days ago. It’s undoubtedly a challenging situation for the Nittany Lions, one that former Ohio State head coach and FOX Big Noon Kickoff commentator Urban Meyer finds heartbreaking.

“I almost fell out [of my chair] when I saw that,” Meyer said on The Triple Option podcast this week. “This kid’s a hell of a player, man. I don’t know him, but I heard Coach Franklin talk about him. We covered their games. They say he’s always wanted to be a Nittany Lion. I mean, this guy’s a good player, and this just broke my heart. Can you imagine if Drew Allar goes down?

“And people want to throw him [Pribula] under the bus. I’m not doing that at all. I don’t know the whole [situation]. I know the portal opens — I think this is important — on December 9, it opened. On December 28, it closes. So that means that this player has got to start looking into other schools. I wish he would have waited one more game.

“I’m sick because to see a player walk out and leave a team, as they’re getting ready to do something possibly historic. Penn State’s got the best path to make a run at this thing. They play SMU. They play Boise. They’ll be favored in both games, obviously. And God forbid Drew Allar grabs an ankle. I don’t know who their third-string quarterback is. I don’t know. Maybe they got a Cardale Jones like we had hanging around back there. Probably not.

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“So I’m heartbroken. Of all the good things going on this year about the playoff, about the just the quality of product on the field, actually some parity, all this. Then all of a sudden, that? I don’t know.”

Beau Pribula entered the transfer portal last Sunday after three seasons with Penn State football. A move he called “an impossible decision,” the redshirt sophomore has already visited Missouri, Iowa, UCF, and Ole Miss this week.

“This kid obviously, he has the right to want to do what’s best for his future,” Mark Ingram added. “And he’s in a position right now where his team is going on to possibly play for a National Championship. They’re in the College Football Playoff. But he’s thinking about his future at the same time.

“So, I’m not mad at him for considering his future. But with this schedule, he has to decide right now if he’s going to leave or not. If he waits another week or waits another two weeks, the position that was probably for him might not be there because somebody else might go there.

“This whole thing just needs to be reevaluated and redone because the window is during the most important time of the college football season, which is the playoffs, and then it closes, and then it reopens. It’s just crazy right now.”

Could the playoff open the door to a devastating scenario for Penn State football?

© Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Pribula’s decision was driven, in part, by Drew Allar’s later announcement that he is planning to return to Penn State football for his senior season. But with up to four games remaining this season, The Triple Option hosts highlighted a potential doomsday scenario for the Nittany Lions heading into 2025.

“What if Drew Allar absolutely balls in December and January, and his NFL stock starts going up like this,” Rob Stone said. “No one’s saying that he can’t say, ‘You know what? I’m going [to the NFL Draft].’ And now all of a sudden, James Franklin and his staff are saying, ‘Whoa, we just lost [quarterback number] one and two. And neither one we were really prepared to lose.’”

Penn State football hosts SMU in the opening round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday at noon. The game will be broadcast on TNT and streamed on Max.

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