Who is Beau Pribula? Meet Penn State backup QB who led Nittany Lions to win vs Wisconsin

It had the making of a Hollywood scriptwriter ending: Beau Pribula gets called off the bench by Penn State football coach James Franklin and to lead his team to a come-from-behind victory on the road.

And that's exactly what happened inside Camp Randall Stadium against Wisconsin on Saturday.

Called off the bench to start the second half for Drew Allar, who sustained an injury just before halftime, the 6-foot-2 quarterback led the third-ranked Nittany Lions to a 28-13 victory over the Badgers to save Penn State's undefeated season.

"Just walking off this field with a W. I didn't want to let my teammates down," Pribula told NBC's Kathryn Tappen what he will take from playing for his hometown team Saturday. "We work too hard to give up something like that."

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He orchestrated a rather dominant (and clean) second half from the Penn State offense to overcome a 10-7 halftime deficit: He completed 11 of 13 passes for 98 yards with a touchdown, adding 28 rushing yards. The dual-threat quarterback led the Nittany Lions to their first win in Madison against Wisconsin since 2011.

"My coach Danny O'Brien does a great job of keeping the mindset of preparing as a starter, " Pribula told Tappen on what his mindset was when entering the game. "So it wasn't really hard. Had to settle in a little bit and my teammates had my back."

Here's what you need to know about Pribula, who led Penn State to perhaps its biggest win of the season given the circumstances that he entered the game with:

Who is Beau Pribula?

Pribula is a redshirt sophomore quarterback at Penn State, who serves as the backup to Allar.

He hails from York, Pennsylvania, roughly a two-hour drive from Penn State's campus. He attended high school at Central York High School, where he led the Panthers to their first state championship appearance and Pennsylvania District III Title.

He led Central York to back-to-back undefeated regular seasons as a junior and a senior and was named the state's Player of the Year each of those seasons, per his Penn State profile page.

Pribula comes from a well-versed football family, and one that is filled with quarterbacks. Per his Penn State profile, his dad, Tad, played at Shippensburg University while his brother, Cade, was a quarterback at Sacred Heart University. His uncle, Barry Rahn, was a quarterback at USC in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

But perhaps the most well-known member of Pribula's football family tree is his grandfather, Jim, who was an All-American at West Chester University during from 1958-1962.

Last season, in a backup role, Pribula saw his first action at Penn State after redshirting his true freshman year. Though he was in a backup role, Pribula still finished third among Big Ten quarterbacks in rushing yards (329) and rushing touchdowns (six), per his Penn State page.

He recorded his third touchdown pass of the season on Saturday against Wisconsin, when he connected with Khalil Dinkins for a 1-yard pass at the goal line.

Pribula entered Saturday's game against Wisconsin with only 10 passing attempts on the season, with nine of them coming during a blowout win against Kent State earlier this season.

"He's a winner. He accepts his role, battling every week to be the starting quarterback. He makes plays with his feet and his mind and his arms," Franklin said postgame Saturday on NBC. "I couldn't be more proud of him. A big-time player and he's unselfish in a time in college football that a lot of guys are selfish."

Beau Pribula 247 rankings

• Star rating: Three-star recruit

• National ranking: No. 464

• Positional ranking: No. 29 QB

• State ranking: No. 14 player in Pennsylvania

Pribula wasn't a highly touted recruit coming out of high school at Central York in York, Pennsylvania. In addition to Penn State, he held Power 4 offers from Nebraska, Northwestern, Rutgers, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and West Virginia.

Per his 247Sports Composite ranking page, Pribula was listed a three-star recruit in the 2022 recruiting class. He was ranked as the No. 29 quarterback in the class and the No. 14 ranked prospect in the state of Pennsylvania.

Beau Pribula stats

Here's a look at Pribula's box score from Saturday's win against Wisconsin:

• vs. Wisconsin: 11 of 13 (84.6%) passing for 98 yards and a touchdown; six carries for 28 rushing yards

Here's a year-by-year look at Pribula's stats at Penn State:

• 2023: 11 of 21 (52.4%) passing for 149 yards and four touchdowns; 56 carries for 329 rushing yards with six rushing touchdowns

• 2024: 18 of 23 (78.3%) passing for 200 yards with three touchdowns and an interception; 21 carries for 133 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is Beau Pribula? Stats, 247 rating, more on Penn State backup QB