Hawkeyes in hunt for Beau Pribula, a QB who felt he had to walk away from CFP

A good get for Iowa’s football team, it certainly appears, would be a quarterback who has spent the last three seasons at Penn State.

Beau Pribula is a dual-threat dude. In taking 187 snaps with the Nittany Lions this season as a third-year sophomore, Pribula completed 26 of 35 passes for 275 yards and five touchdowns, and rushed 38 times for 242 yards and four scores.

When starter Drew Allar had a lower body injury at Wisconsin on Oct. 26, Pribula played the entire second half in Penn State’s 28-13 win. The Nittany Lions trailed 10-7 at halftime. Pribula led back-to-back fourth-quarter touchdown drives of 81 and 76 yards.

So while Pribula doesn’t have a huge body of work, what he has looks pretty good.

Pribula reportedly was scheduled to visit Iowa Wednesday after doing likewise at Missouri Tuesday. Reportedly, he also will visit UCF and Indiana.

What’s most interesting about Pribula’s NCAA transfer portal entrance isn’t his legs or his throwing arm as much as his timing. He’s kind of a symbol of the portal craziness of the moment.

Pribula said Sunday that he was entering the portal. That was the day before Penn State junior quarterback Drew Allar announced he was returning for his senior season rather than entering the NFL draft.

Penn State has a College Football Playoff home game Saturday against SMU. No playoff team wants its No. 2 quarterback walking away until the season is done.

Players who know they’re going to transfer also know a lot of attractive roster spots will get buttoned up this month. Here’s what Pribula said Monday on social media:

“The current NCAA postseason model creates a challenge for student-athletes. The overlapping CFP playoff & transfer portal timeline has forced me into an impossible decision. After speaking at length with my family and coaches, it is with a heavy heart that I announce my intentions to enter the transfer portal and depart from the team to explore opportunities elsewhere. …

“For the rest of my life, I stand proud as a Penn State graduate and letterman.”

Pribula could have stayed with the Lions through the playoff, of course. Playoff participants get an extension beyond the Dec. 28 close of the current portal opening, and then the spring portal window for football is April 16-25.

The reality, though, is players want to get hooked up with their next team and be in place as soon as they can. There won’t be nearly as many attractive opportunities after the playoffs as there are today.

Penn State Coach James Franklin expressed understanding about Pribula’s decision to leave now. Like most coaches, he thinks the portal’s dates are the issue.

“I can give you my word, Beau Pribula did not want to leave our program until the end of the season,” Franklin said Monday. “But the way the portal is, the timing of it, the way our team is playing, and when you play the position of quarterback and there’s only one spot and those spots are filling up, he felt like he was put in a no-win situation, and I agree with him.

“Knowing everything I know right now, I would recruit the heck out of Beau. Beau grew up wanting to come to Penn State his whole life. This is his dream school. And he had a phenomenal career here. And I just want everyone to understand that most importantly.”

Pribula is from York, in southeast Pennsylvania. He quarterbacked Central York High to its first state-championship football game. He committed to Penn State in August 2020, 16 months before he could sign a national letter of intent.

By all accounts, he’s a popular player, one Penn State’s fans hate to see leave. But players want to play.

So, Music City Bowl opponents Iowa and Missouri are wooing a quarterback who feels he must walk away from a chance to participate in the CFP with the team he grew up loving. This is college football 2024.

If Iowa lands Pribula, the former Penn State backup will compete for the Hawkeyes’ quarterback job with former Auburn backup Hank Brown, former Northwestern backup Brendan Sullivan and former Colorado State backup Jackson Stratton.

You absolutely can’t have too many quarterbacks. They come and go quickly.

Comments: (319) 398-8440; mike.hlas@thegazette.com