Beau Pribula set up behind the center as Drew Allar moved out wide. Pribula snapped the ball and looked toward tight end Tyler Warren, who split two linebackers and caught a pass to his chest, trotting into the end zone untouched. Pribula is many things, but typical backup quarterback is not one of them. He’s a weapon, and showed that in Penn State’s win at West Virginia.
Pribula fielded 20 snaps on Saturday, a mark that placed him among the Nittany Lions’ most-used offensive players. He rushed three times for 25 yards, threw the 19-yard touchdown pass to Warren and was the quarterback on Penn State’s failed two-point conversion attempt in the second quarter. Pribula can do it all, whether it’s run, pass or receive.
“He’s not just a running quarterback. He’s really taken a step forward in the pass game, and it’s been really cool to see that,”Allar said postgame. “I don’t think he gets enough credit for how good he is as a passer, and he’s going to cause a lot of stress throughout the year for defenses.”
Pribula’s quickly defined himself as the ultimate wild card of new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s system and a game planning nightmare for opposing defensive coordinators. There’s no telling what Kotelnicki — who has already put offensive linemen in motion and his starting quarterback at wide receiver — will have Pribula do next.
The days of preparing solely as a quarterback are no longer. Pribula has to practice everything.
“I think the next step is really just continuing to develop and really just being able to do everything that he asked me to do, whether that’s lining up at running back, receiver, quarterback, whatever that is, just trying to get good at all those areas, because I’m going to be asked to do things like that, like you saw in the past game,” Pribula said.
There was never a conversation with Kotelnicki about what Pribula’s role exactly was. There simply an understanding that he would play, be used often and line up potentially everywhere. All it took was a quick film session from Kotelnicki’s three-year career at Kansas for Pribula to realize that his new offensive coordinator loves a multi-quarterback system.
In fact, Kotelnicki loves anything that can make a defense scratch its head. Pribula gained full understanding of this once Kotelnicki began scheming plays for him and Drew Allar in preparation of the Nittany Lions’ Peach Bowl matchup with Ole Miss. Pribula went on to throw a career-long 48-yard touchdown pass to running back Nick Singleton in that game.
He also blocked downfield on a 76-yard touchdown pass from Allar to Warren.
“It’s one thing to play at the end of the game, when nothing really matters,” Pribula said. “But to play and get that experience last year in big moments like the Peach Bowl and later in the year like Rutgers and Michigan State, I think that was big to gain that experience and take meaningful snaps, because this past Saturday, it made it a lot easier and more comfortable.”
Pribula’s experience has helped prepare him for potentially wacky and abstract scenarios, but so has the presence of Kotelnicki, alone. With a new rule change allowing for in-helmet communication, Kotelnicki’s personality has now also translated to the field. Allar and Pribula both noted that Kotelnicki’s calm demeanor on the headset has helped loosen their nerves.
But what happens when both quarterbacks are on the field at the same time? There can only be one player in pre-snap communication with Kotelnicki, and most of the time, that’s Allar. That means Pribula has two helmets, one with a green dot and one without, for when he’s the guy and can talk to Kotelnicki or when he’s not.
It’s just an added element to an already unusual set of tasks Pribula has had to prepare for. Yes, he’s practiced switching helmets just like he’s practiced as a wide receiver and running back. He is truly a jack of all trades.
“That’s actually something that people might take for granted, but it’s a big deal, especially for our equipment staff, and they did a great job with that,” Pribula said in regard to switching helmets.
Opposing teams can only guess which helmet he’ll wear, what position he’ll play or what impact he’ll make at various points throughout a game. And that’s exactly the way Kotelnicki and James Franklin would like to keep it.
It’s safe to say the Nittany Lions will add a new component to Pribula’s portfolio against Bowling Green on Saturday. Or maybe they won’t. Who really knows with Pribula?
“Being able to, each week, add to that package so that the defense can’t put you into a package. … We also want to make sure that it’s not the same things that you’re seeing,” Franklin said.
