TILOCK: Beau Pribula has quietly been one of the best quarterbacks in college football

Virginia football currently sits at 3-1 (1-0 ACC) heading into a road visit at Florida State. That lone loss has dragged the Cavaliers out of the national spotlight, but overall, this team has put up elite numbers — especially at home.

At the forefront of a strong football team is its quarterback, fifth-year Beau Pribula. It may sound surprising, but technically, Pribula has been a top-10 quarterback in all of college football in the first quarter of the season.

Through week four, Pribula ranks top-10 nationally in completion percentage (4th), passer rating (5th) and passing touchdowns (7th).

Those numbers should not be overlooked. In fact, those already-outstanding statistics are hampered by Pribula's one and only interception — which came off a tipped pass. His numbers are also affected by the fact that he has been pulled early from three of his first four games. As Virginia took bulbous leads at home, backups were called in to mop up the rest of the game.

At home, Pribula has just seven incompletions compared to nine touchdowns (and one rushing touchdown).

Pribula's passing yards may seem meager (he has surpassed 200 yards just once), but that should primarily be attributed to Virginia's emphasis on the run game. His efficiency has been astonishing, and far superior to just about any quarterback in the country. Again, only three FBS quarterbacks have a higher completion percentage. That means, in theory, if Pribula attempts more passes, his total yardage would jump accordingly.

It is also worth noting that Pribula's No. 1 receiver, Rico Flores Jr., missed the first two games and only played a few snaps in game three. Now that Flores is healthy, Pribula could take another step forward with the quartet of Flores, Kam Courtney, Jacquon Gibson and Da'Shawn Martin at his disposal.

However, there is one valid demerit — Pribula's level of competition has been less than inspiring. At the time, the win over NC State was impressive. The Wolfpack have since descended into the ACC's basement. Norfolk State and Delaware are not all that competitive, and Virginia lost its contest against West Virginia.

Those concerns might be quickly disproven once Pribula dissects Florida State and other more respectable ACC teams. If Pribula continues to excel against SMU, Duke and Wake Forest, perhaps national pundits will begin to see how incredible Virginia's quarterback has been.

Many analysts simply judge a quarterback by his total yardage. Pribula's remarkable efficiency should not be overlooked. In terms of doing what the coaches hope for and executing the gameplan, Pribula has performed better than nearly every other quarterback in college football.

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