It’s not exactly good journalistic practice, but the lede to this story is nearly the same as the headline: At no point in Mizzou’s history as a football program has it ever had a quarterback start his career quite like Beau Pribula.
OK, I know that will have quite a few people fidgeting in their arm chairs, but this isn’t Saturday at Faurot so I don’t have to play defense. I could explain what I don’t mean by that statement, but I think it’d be more constructive for everyone’s time to explain what I do mean.
From all that we’ve seen of Beau Pribula in his almost nine months spent as a quarterback at Mizzou, we now know a few things about him: he’s a proven leader who quickly gained the trust and respect of his peers and coaches in the locker room; he’s a pretty stoic guy; he’s a dual-threat QB who, thus far, has shown us more with his arm than his legs; even in a small sample size, he’s pretty damn good.
None of these things are unique to Pribula in the lineage of Mizzou starting quarterbacks. Hell, four of those five qualifiers could apply to the guy whose shoes Pribula is filling. By all accounts, Beau Pribula is a build-your-own-QB of standard college fashion, a strong character guy with above average skills across the board and the ability to win teams games.
But again, there’s never been someone quite like him in Missouri’s history. And at this point in time, that might be the best possible situation for all involved.
It’s probably important to note that this doesn’t necessarily relate to Pribula’s prolific statistical output in his first two games, though that’s certainly something with which we must contend. Through two full games — his blunted output against Central Arkansas notwithstanding — Pribula has a completion percentage above 79 percent, is averaging over 300 yards passing per game, is responsible for seven touchdowns, and only has one turnover. It’s inarguably the best start to a Mizzou career for a starting QB this century, boasting better overall numbers (and a bigger win) than everyone from Brady Cook to Brad Smith.
Yeah. Pretty impressive!
Still, it’s more about the intangibles and the overall narrative of who Pribula is and what he brings to the Tigers that we’re focusing on here. For all of Eli Drinkwitz’s hemming and hawing about who would be the starting quarterback, it seems fairly obvious now that Beau Pribula was always going to be the guy. Certainly Sam Horn had a role to play in his final year at Mizzou, but Pribula was seemingly set to take the QB1 position from the moment he arrived in late December 2024.
In that time, Pribula has seemingly gained the complete and total trust of everyone in Mizzou’s program from top to bottom. His teammates voted him as a team captain during his first fall camp. His receivers glowingly speak about the work he’s done with them. Eli Drinkwitz feels equally compelled to praise his leadership as he does to critique the finer points of his game, a detail that should be read as a coach having full confidence in the overall play of his QB. And, in his first two games, he’s been the first player behind the coach ready to take press duties. For a team with so much veteran leadership returning on both sides of the ball, that says a lot about the role he plays as a captain.
Pribula himself seems to relish the opportunity that coming to Missouri has afforded him. Commentators are quick to point out that “opportunity” was what Pribula sought when he entered the portal, and Mizzou has given him plenty of it. The years at a blue blood program have paid off, too. Pribula is measured and self-critical when analyzing his own game. He never throws his teammates under the bus and is quick to praise them for the work they do. He plays down media narratives (him vs. Sam Horn being the predominant one), yet speaks honestly and candidly about the adaptation he’s had to make to a new program.
Perhaps most importantly, though? Pribula seems to have taken the lessons he learned in State College and is seeking to teach them to his new teammates. In the post-game, both Drinkwitz and Pribula spoke about the latter’s message to them team ahead of game day. “Adversity,” was the word that kept popping up: adversity during the season, adversity during the game and how to fight through adversity to accomplish your goals anyway. For a guy who seemingly sought to get out of adversity’s way by transferring to a school more likely to give him a starting role, he seems to have learned a lot about the importance of fighting through hardship.
But maybe I’ve buried the lede in the first 800 words of this piece. Why is Beau Pribula like no one Missouri has ever had at quarterback? The answer is simple: Because no quarterback has ever come to Missouri as ready-made to succeed as Beau Pribula. Pribula spent three years at the pressure cooker of Penn State, fighting for a role that would never be his yet being counted on to a play an important role in the Nittany Lions’ offense. While a naturally-gifted runner, Pribula had countless hours to hone his skill a passer against some of the nation’s best defenses. And through it all, he sat under one of the modern game’s better head coaches, soaking up knowledge and the know-how of what it takes to win at not just an SEC Divisional level, but a national level.
Brad Smith exploded onto the scene in the early naughts. Chase Daniel, Blaine Gabbert, and Drew Lock brought big promise, but had to sort through some growing pains first. James Franklin and Brady Cook had to iron out wrinkles before becoming the bulldozing QBs they were.
But Beau Pribula? Beau Pribula has been waiting years to be the guy he is now. All he needed was someone to give him the opportunity. Thus far, Mizzou fans have to be happy Eli Drinkwitz and his staff offered.
