Beau Pribula finally has the kind of runway he was looking for.
Virginia announced Saturday that the former Penn State quarterback has won the Cavaliers’ starting job, beating out Pitt transfer Eli Holstein for QB1. Pribula arrived in Charlottesville after one season at Missouri, following three years in Happy Valley.
For Pribula, this is the latest turn in a college career that never quite opened up at Penn State. He redshirted as a true freshman in 2022 and spent the next stretch behind now Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Drew Allar, who held the spotlight as the Nittany Lions’ starter.
By the end of the 2024 season, just before Penn State began its College Football Playoff run, former head coach James Franklin and Pribula agreed that a transfer was the best move. Pribula entered the portal without having been part of a CFP win with Penn State and landed at Missouri.
The stop with the Tigers gave him real game reps. Pribula started all 10 games he played in, dealt with an ankle injury in October, then returned after being medically cleared before the season ended. He finished the year with a 67.4 completion percentage, 1,941 passing yards and 11 touchdowns on 182 completions.
Now he gets another chance, this time in the ACC, where Virginia is trying to build on an 11-3 season. The Cavaliers have not had a double-digit win season since 1989, and they last finished above .500 in 2019 at 9-5.
This wasn’t the first time Pribula had to win a quarterback competition. At Missouri, the job was unsettled for a while, and even in Week 1 Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz used both Pribula and Sam Horn to figure out which option fit best. Drinkwitz said he made the call based on game action rather than offseason or fall camp work.
Virginia moved more quickly. Holstein, who transferred from Pitt, will serve as the primary backup in 2026. He is listed as a senior on Virginia’s roster, redshirted his true freshman year at Alabama in 2023 and spent two seasons with the Panthers.
Pribula’s departure from Penn State hit hard for fans who watched the Pennsylvania native leave without getting a full shot to prove himself in State College. His season at Missouri gave the Nittany Lion faithful something to feel good about, and that support figures to follow him into the ACC.
There is also one more notable date on the schedule: Virginia and Virginia Tech are set to play Nov. 28, which will put Pribula against former Penn State head coach James Franklin in the regular-season finale.
In Other News...
Penn State Adds Colorado Transfer Alex McPherson To Reload Edge Depth
Penn State is continuing to stock up on edge depth, and Alex McPherson fits the kind of long, developmental profile the program has often tried to mine. The 6-foot-6, 254-pound transfer spent the 2025 season at Colorado, where he got into 10 games and showed enough activity to keep coaches interested, even if his role there was still clearly a work in progress.
McPherson arrives in State College with some pass-rush upside and a chance to grow inside Penn States new defensive system, which should give him a cleaner path to carve out a role. He was a three-star prospect out of high school, and for a defense always looking to reload up front, the appeal is obvious: a player with tools, production flashes and room to develop into more. [Read more 🡒]
Former Penn State Quarterback Just Got The Chance Fans Wondered About
Penn State fans have spent plenty of time wondering what Beau Pribula might look like with a real shot to run a program, and the conversation around former Nittany Lions quarterbacks has only grown louder as coaching staffs and rosters keep shifting across the sport. Todd Blackledge has been among those offering a positive read on the current staff picture, while Matt Campbells roster changes and coaching additions have kept the spotlight on how well a new group can come together, especially on the defensive side.
The broader quarterback picture is just as interesting for Penn State followers, with evaluations continuing on Rocco Becht and even the future outlook around James Armstrong. Pribulas next step is the one that will draw the most attention, though, because his path has now moved from possibility to something much more concrete, and the real question is how he handles the chance once the games start to matter. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Faces A Familiar Pitt Debate With Bigger Stakes Now
The old Penn State-Pitt football argument keeps resurfacing, and this time it comes with a little more weight behind it. Pat Narduzzi has made it clear Pitt would take the game immediately if it were put on the schedule, a familiar stance in a rivalry that still carries plenty of history even after years without a meeting. The last time the teams played was in 2019, and Penn State has controlled the series in recent decades, which only adds to the sense that this is more than a nostalgic scheduling debate.
Matt Campbell, though, has not sounded eager to chase the rivalry for rivalrys sake, preferring to keep his focus on building a strong culture and a program with bigger competitive priorities. That is where the conversation gets tricky for Penn State, because the appeal of the matchup is obvious to fans, but the stakes in the modern schedule are different now. With Pitt willing and Penn State more cautious, the question is not whether the rivalry still matters. It is whether the Lions see enough value in bringing it back. [Read more 🡒]