Virginia is turning to Beau Pribula to open the season at quarterback, and Tony Elliott says the decision was settled back in May.
Elliott made the announcement Wednesday during the ACC’s media days, naming the former Penn State and Missouri quarterback as the starter. Pribula, who saw action for the Nittany Lions in wins over West Virginia in 2023 and 2024, won the job over another well-known transfer, former Pitt starter Eli Holstein.
The move drops Virginia into a familiar kind of conversation: can this group reload and stay in the ACC race? Last season’s answer was yes.
The Cavaliers were picked 14th in the league’s preseason poll, then finished 7-1 in conference play during a 10-win regular season. That run carried them to the ACC championship game, where they lost to Duke, and then to a Gator Bowl win over Missouri.
It was Virginia’s first bowl appearance since 2019.
The 11 wins also set a school record, and the 10-win season was only the second in program history, with the other coming in 1989. Since then, Virginia has dealt with plenty of turnover, including under center.
That was true a year ago as well, but the Cavaliers found the right answer in Chandler Morris, who had previously played at Oklahoma, TCU and North Texas. A number of other additions also made an impact.
Virginia and West Virginia will meet for the first time since 2002 and for the first time in the regular season since 1985 when they play a neutral-site game in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sept. 19.
The Mountaineers still need to settle on their own quarterback. In the video above, CBS Sports analyst Chip Patterson explains why Pribula is the right choice and what it says about Virginia’s reload.
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