In a thrilling victory over kansas, Beau Pribula and the Tigers proved why Missouri is a force to be reckoned with.
After assessing his performance it’s hard to believe that this was the first time Pribula played a collegiate football game from start to finish.
The quarterback threw 30 complete catches over 39 attempts, collecting 334 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Currently, he stands
fifth nationally in completion rate (79.1%).
The hype is real.
And while the circumstances surrounding how Pribula got the starting job are unfortunate, he’s taken the mantle with pride.
He doesn’t shy away in big moments and tackles in game challenges head-on.
In fact, he preached to the team all week that they would be facing new obstacles against a tough opponent like the jayhawks. What he didn’t expect was that the first hurdle would come from his own fumble that resulted in a scoop in score for kansas.
“It was really me that put us in that situation,” Pribula said. “But I mean, whether it was being down 15 or turnovers, I think everybody stepped up every single time and that was huge. I think we grew a lot from that. It says a lot about the character of the team. I thought everybody did a really good job handling adversity today.”
Everybody did step up. In fact, Pribula found connections with nine different targets throughout the game.
In his postgame presser, the quarterback mentioned a reason the team worked together so well when fighting back.
“There’s a lot of trust with all the tight ends, all the receivers, running backs, because they work extremely hard, and we have a really good connection,”
Beau Pribula
“There’s a lot of trust with all the tight ends, all the receivers, running backs, because they work extremely hard, and we have a really good connection,” Pribula said. “I have a lot of belief from them and vice versa. Anytime you have that, I think it’s really big for the connection.”
Head coach Eli Drinkwitz also talked about the relationship between Pribula and the team, especially in Coleman.
“Kevin does a really good job of finding holes in the zone, and Beau has a lot of trust in him,” Drinkwitz said. “Beau and Kevin spent a lot of time in the summer and offseason throwing RVA together, so that connection shows up,” Drinkwitz said.
Another spot in which Pribula displayed his high IQ was on fourth downs. While it wasn’t a desired situation for the Tigers, it speaks volumes that a transfer quarterback was able to calm down the team and put numbers on the board.
Mizzou went 4-5 on fourth downs with game-altering conversions stemming from most of the attempts.
One of Pribula’s favorite targets was Kevin Coleman Jr., who he found for a 4th & 2 touchdown in the second quarter. The duo later connected in the final quarter on a 4th & 7 that led to a go-ahead touchdown from Norfleet.
Another big play occurred when Pribula found true freshman Donovan Olgubode who made an insane snag on a 4th & 10 that later led to a field goal to bring the Tigers within three in the second quarter.
Without these clutch moments from the QB – it’s a whole different ballgame.
With his performance, Pribula is making analysts turn their heads and take Mizzou seriously.
ESPN’s Bill Connelly ranks the newcomer as the best quarterback in the SEC through the first two weeks of the season.
On Saturday, Tim Tebow also didn’t mince his words about the quarterback. Donning a shirt he acquired from a fan on the set of SEC Nation, he exclaimed high praise about Pribula on national television.
“But I really do beau-lieve in Beau,” said Tebow. “Not just as a runner, he’s a wildcat quarterback. He’s shown he can throw with anticipation, he can throw with accuracy, he can make plays from the pocket.”
He’s showing why he may become a generational quarterback, already drawing comparisons to the games Chase Daniel and Drew Lock brought to Columbia.
Diehard fan or new to the Mizzou Tiger family, it’s clear that no one should miss this display of greatness.
Granted, it’s early and only week two, but it seems special.
You aren’t going to want to miss The Beau Show, so enter the new lottery for your tickets from the Zou Pass or purchase a ticket for a game that hasn’t sold out yet and bring the energy to Faurot as Pribula shows the SEC why this team is playoff material.
