A Beau-dacious start for Missouri

Penn State fans may want to focus on the pregame tailgate or chores at home instead of getting a gander at any of the games with noon kickoffs on Saturday.

Especially No. 8 Alabama (4-1) at No. 14 Missouri (5-0) on ABC.

Because they may blow their proverbial stacks, a la Fred Flintstone-style, if Beau Pribula does what the mind behind these type-written words think he will to the 3.5-point favored Crimson Tide in Week 7’s edition of Upset Alert Saturday … starting on Thursday night.

See, while mindless drones continued down the path of anointing Drew Allar as the next Josh Allen, Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes all wrapped up into one sure-fire “first pick in the NFL Draft” and making excuses right and left when he proved he wasn’t anything remotely near that, Pribula paid his dues in State College, honed his craft, saw the writing on the wall … and skedaddled to greener personal pastures for him in Columbia, Mo.

Good for him, as his resume and play has grown to the point that, gee, even mindless drones are starting to wonder if, hmmm, did James Franklin and Co. make the right choice at QB?

Newsflash, people: You’re two years too late on that.

In limited duty for himself, and extensive duty for Allar, it was obvious to anyone who dropped their blinders that, at minimum, a legit competition between the two was warranted for the position of directing the Nittany Lions’ offense.

Never happened.

Now, as Allar continues to miss wide-open receivers and slide further down the pro-potential chart as Penn State, the nation’s preseason No. 2, falls right out of the polls, Pribula – along with major help from the best RB in the country (sophomore Ahmad Hardy, who has 730 yards and 9 TDs rushing) – keeps adding to his resume and has the Tigers moving up the polls.

Pribula has thrown for 1,203 yards and 9 TDs while completing passes for a 75.9 percent clip. He’s also rushed for 3 TDs.

Bama, clearly, has rebounded from its season-opening loss to Florida State, rattling off four straight wins, including one at then-No. 5 Georgia. That game springboarded the Tide back into the top 10, and now they stand exactly where they started the 2025 campaign.

Mizzou never entered the polls until the second week of September, but has been steadily, if slowly, climbing ever since.

Statistically, the Tigers are better on defense (allowing 14.6 points per game to Bama’s 16 ppg) and offense (45.6 ppg to 36.4). Truth be told, though, the Tide’s schedule has been tougher, with a convincing win over then-No. 16 Vanderbilt last week.

Bama QB Ty Simpson (1,478 yards and 13 TDs) is the SEC’s top passer, too.

But Pribula, with his unique athletic skills, brings something extra to the table – as Penn State fans may be remembering more clearly these days.

The Tigers also have big-time talent on defense in LB Josiah Trotter, son of former Philadelphia Eagles fan favorite Jeremiah Trotter, and DE Damon Wilson.

Interesting to note, they, like Pribula and Hardy (Louisiana-Monroe), and both transfers, Trotter from West Virginia and Wilson from Georgia.

Clearly, all indicate HC Eli Drinkwitz’s prowess with the portal. Unfortunately, PSU fans may want to gloss over this, he’s shown the same with high school recruits as evidenced by Pribula’s backup – Matt Zollers, who was the highest-rated player coming out of Pennsylvania last year following a standout career at Spring-Ford High in southeastern Pa.

THURSDAY

East Carolina (3-2) at Tulane (4-1) -6.5, 7:30 p.m., ESPN. Battle of transfer QBs favors the Pirates’ Katin Houser (Michigan State) over the Green Wave’s Jake Retzlaff (BYU).

FRIDAY

No. 24 South Florida (4-1) at North Texas (5-0) -1.5, 7:30, ESPN2. The Bulls’ best win was at Florida’s Swamp. The Mean Green’s was, what, an OT win at Army. C’mon.

SATURDAY

Pittsburgh (3-2) at No. 25 Florida State (3-2) -10.5, 12, ESPN. The Panthers may have found a star in freshman QB Mason Heintschel (323 yards, 4 TDs passing in his debut last week).

UCLA (1-4) at Michigan State (3-2) -8.5, 12, BTN. Not so sure the Bruins’ upset of Penn State last week was that shocking. They got some ballers, headlined by QB Nico Iamaleava.

No. 6 Oklahoma (5-0) -1.5 at Texas (3-2), 3:30, ABC. Sorry, Sooners, this is the classic setup for a Longhorns’ lost season being somewhat salvaged by biting you in the unbeaten butt.

Virginia Tech (2-4) at No. 13 Georgia Tech (5-0) -14.5, 3:30, ACC Network. Hokies probably want to show next year’s HC, James Franklin, that they can win against ranked teams.

N.C. State (4-2) at No. 16 Notre Dame (3-2), -23.5, 3:30, Peacock. The Wolfpack ain’t Boise State, Arkansas or Purdue, Irish fans. The spread is just too high.

Iowa (3-2) -3.5 at Wisconsin (2-3), 7, FS1. This could be Luke Fickell’s last stand in Madison. It may help him and the Badgers if Hawkeyes QB Mark Gronowski is a no-go.

No. 15 Michigan (4-1) at Southern Cal (4-1) -2.5, 7:30, NBC. Trojans should be ranked, but yours truly should give the Bryce Underwood-led Wolverines a little more respect, too.

South Carolina (3-2) at No. 11 LSU (4-1) -9.5, 7:45, SEC Network. Think this is when the LaNorris Sellers’ hype train to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft picks up steam.

No. 21 Arizona State (4-1) at Utah (4-1) –5.5, 10:15, ESPN. A late-night goodie. Utes DE John Henry Daley ranks third in the country with 6.5 sacks, but Sun Devils are battle-tested.