COLUMBIA, Mo. — Penn State transfer Beau Pribula dropped back to throw, slung a pass to former Mississippi State receiver Kevin Coleman Jr. and watched him prance into the end zone for a touchdown — all to the delight of Missouri fans.
Especially given it came in a victory over hated rival Kansas.
Pribula wound up 30-of-39 passing for 343 yards and three touchdowns in the 42-31 victory on Saturday. Coleman had 10 catches for 126 yards and that touchdown. Oh, and running back Ahmad Hardy — formerly of the University of Louisiana at Monroe — rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown in the latest impressive performance by coach Eli Drinkwitz’s cast of transfer additions to the Tigers.
“He stayed poised, he stayed calm — that’s the captain on our team,” Coleman said of Pribula, the biggest name of the bunch. “That’s the one we look up to as a team to count on. And when you see that guy staying calm, we’ve got no worries.”
It may as well have been the Senior Bowl or the East-West Shrine Game, the way all those players from disparate schools came together for Southeastern Conference member Missouri to take down the Big 12’s Jayhawks. But in truth, it was just another day in college football where, as in most leagues, high-profile transfers are helping teams such as Missouri thrive even after losing many key players to graduation and the draft.
Pribula is currently second in the SEC in passing to Oklahoma’s John Mateer, who joined the Sooners after three years at Washington State and immediately injected some firepower into defensive-minded coach Brent Venables’ offense.
Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar has the Volunteers off to a flying start after landing in Knoxville on the heels of two years as the starter for Appalachian State (although, in an example of how the current transfer climate operates, he spent spring practices at UCLA); he has thrown for 535 yards and five scores without an interception in his first two games. Over at Auburn, forme Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold completed nearly 78% of his passes with three touchdowns and no interceptions in wins over Baylor and Ball State.
And those are just the transfer quarterbacks.
There are a bunch of new arrivals playing big roles at other positions already this season.
Hardy is the SEC’s second-leading rusher behind Kewan Lacy, who transferred to Ole Miss from Missouri. Lacy had 28 carries for the Rebels and gained 138 yards in a 30-23 win over Kentucky in a conference opener, and he has averaged 4.9 yards per carry so far this season.
Not a bad average, but consider Arkansas running back Mike Washington Jr., who has averaged more than 10 yards on his first 18 attempts while helping the Razorbacks to a 2-0 start. He was at Buffalo two years ago and at New Mexico State last year.
Kentucky’s Dante Dowdell is likewise on his third team in three years, spending a season each at Oregon and Nebraska. He has run for 185 yards and a touchdown through his first two games with the Wildcats.
The SEC’s leading receiver, Harrison Wallace III of Ole Miss, spent last season at Penn State. Texas A&M receiver Mario Craver has 13 catches for 236 yards and three scores, one year after finishing with just 17 for 368 yards at Mississippi State.
In fact, the SEC’s top seven receivers in yardage through the first two full weeks of the season began their collegiate careers with another program.
When you combine a top transfer quarterback with marquee running backs and receivers — just like Drinkwitz has done at Missouri this season — the result is predictable. The Tigers rolled through Central Arkansas to begin the season, then took care of Kansas in an emotionally charged rivalry game to break into the AP Top 25 this week.
Forget about rebuilding in the wake of quarterback Brady Cook’s graduation and wide receiver Luther Burden III’s entry in the NFL draft. Not these days. Just like other schools, the Tigers simply used the transfer portal to reload.
“Obviously, Kevin Coleman made some big-time catches and continually does that. But, you know, no panic. I think Beau is really cool, calm, collected,” Drinkwitz said after the win over Kansas.
The Tigers host Louisiana-Lafayette this weekend before opening SEC against South Carolina, and Pribula’s play will continue to be vital.
“There are going to be a lot of things on tape you’ve got to clean up. He was a little bit finicky in the first half in the pocket. I thought we were moving when we didn’t need to, and we missed some reads. There’s a lot to improve on,” Drinkwitz said. “But in the biggest moments, in the toughest times on fourth down, I mean, he was nails.”