It didn’t look promising for Penn State football at halftime. The Nittany Lions trailed 10-7, and starting quarterback Drew Allar had gone to the locker room with the team’s medical staff shortly before the break only to return wearing a knee brace on the sideline.

Enter backup Beau Pribula. With the game in balance, he suddenly had to answer the bell.

It was a rough start, but Pribula thrived. He ended up completing 11-of-13 passing attempts, 98 passing yards, a touchdown, and 28 rushing yards, as Penn State defeated Wisconsin 28-13.

“Here’s Beau Pribula in a quarterback battle waiting for his number to be called, and when his number’s called, is able to capitalize and take advantage of it,” James Franklin said.

Despite being the backup, the redshirt sophomore has played in every game in various packages. He’s always forced to operate as if he’ll suddenly be thrown into action, which is exactly what happened against the Badgers.

“I’m always staying ready,” Pribula said. “I’m always ready to go, whether that’s for two quarterback stuff or to take over when Drew [Allar] gets hurt.”

Pribula spends every week preparing for these types of situations. He’s ready “just in case” he needs to enter the game.

Now in his third season in the program, Pribula has been in a similar situation. He played a significant amount against Rutgers last season when Allar got hurt, but playing on the road in front of Camp Randall Stadium’s hostile environment didn’t rattle him.

“The lights weren’t too bright, because I’ve been in big-time games like that before, with the two quarterback stuff, whether it’s the Peach Bowl or taking over in Rutgers last year. So this not being my first time in a situation like that, I think helped,” he said.

Pribula wasn’t the only Nittany Lion who stepped in to replace an injured starter. Dani Dennis-Sutton suffered an injury, so Coziah Izzard and Smith Vilbert had significant playing time in the second half. In his return to Madison, Nolan Rucci took Anthony Donkoh’s place on the offensive line.

Being able to lose three starters and replace them with backups who play well is hard to come by, and most programs don’t have that luxury. It’s especially tough in college football’s current era, given the uncertainty surrounding the transfer portal, NIL, and scheduling.

“Talk about college football and the amount of games that we’re playing now, depth across the board, at every position, is really important,” Franklin said. “So that development of your roster and having character guys like that is more important than it’s ever been, and I think it’s more challenging than it’s ever been.”

Despite the challenges of putting together a deep roster and losing multiple players, including the starting quarterback, to injuries, Penn State took care of business against a good team in a difficult environment.

“Just a gutsy win on the road against a team that’s really trending in a real positive direction, tough environment to play in. Just a gutsy win, you lose your starting quarterback, you lose your starting defensive end, you lose your starting offensive tackle. Next man up. No excuses. I just thought it was a gutsy culture win from my perspective,” Franklin said.