Kansas’ defense looked sharp enough early to make Friday night interesting, but the Jayhawks couldn’t hold that level long enough and Missouri rolled to a 38-21 win.
For two quarters, Kansas gave itself a real chance. The Jayhawks forced Missouri into tough spots, blocked two field goals and turned one of those blocks into a spark of their own when Austin Alexander raced 88 yards for a touchdown. They also did a solid job early against the Tigers’ run game and helped keep the game tied 14-14 at halftime.
Then the second half flipped.
Missouri came out and scored touchdowns on its first two possessions after the break, stretching the lead to 28-14 and taking control of the game. The Tigers added 14 points in the third quarter and 10 more in the fourth as their offense settled in and kept Kansas on its heels.
Austin Simmons led Missouri’s attack with 292 passing yards and three touchdowns, while Jamal Roberts added 125 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground. Kansas had its own offensive issues, but the defense also needed to answer once Missouri started adjusting.
There were a few bright spots for the Jayhawks. Trey Lathan paced the defense with nine tackles, and Leroy Harris III chipped in with a blocked field goal and a forced fumble. Still, the larger problem was impossible to ignore: Kansas played well for stretches, then let the game slip away after halftime.
The Jayhawks answered with an 11-play, 83-yard touchdown drive, but Missouri kept dictating the pace and closed the door from there. The Tigers’ win was their fifth straight over Kansas.
Now the focus turns to consistency. Kansas can’t keep giving away halves, especially against teams that know how to take advantage once momentum swings. The next chance to show progress comes next week in London against Arizona State, where the defense will get another shot to prove it can bring the same energy for four quarters.
In Other News...
Kansas Let Border Showdown Slip Away For One Frustrating Reason
Kansas went into the border showdown needing cleaner execution than it got, and the 38-21 loss to Missouri left the Jayhawks chasing the game for much of the afternoon. Isaiah Marshall had moments through the air, but the offense never found a steady rhythm, the run game stayed bottled up and the Tigers were able to keep Kansas under pressure long enough to separate.
Head coach Lance Leipold pointed to the defensive effort as a unit that gave his team a chance to hang around, even if the game kept putting that group in difficult spots. For a Kansas team that wanted this rivalry game to be a statement, the frustration was less about one bad stretch than the feeling that too many small breakdowns added up at the wrong time. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Left Missouri With An Offensive Problem It Must Fix Fast
Kansas came out of the Border War with more questions than answers in the run game, and that is not the sort of problem a staff can ignore for long. The Jayhawks never found much traction against Missouri, leaning on a ground attack that stalled out too often and left the offense without the balance it needed to stay on schedule.
Isaiah Marshall led Kansas with 23 rushing yards, while Dylan Edwards added 39 on six carries, but the bigger issue was collective rather than individual. Missouris rushing success set the tone on the other side, giving the Tigers a physical edge Kansas will need to address quickly if it wants its offense to look more complete in the weeks ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Has Lance Leipold Already Taken Kansas As Far As He Can
Lance Leipold has done enough at Kansas to change the tone around the program. Since arriving in 2021, he has delivered the kind of milestones that once felt distant in Lawrence, from ending losing streaks to helping put the Jayhawks on a path that included a new stadium and real national relevance. For a while, that was the story every Kansas fan wanted to hear: a steady coach, a resurgent program and evidence that the investment was finally starting to matter.
But the longer Leipold has been in charge, the harder it has become to ignore the ceiling questions. Kansas has not been able to stack up bowl seasons the way its resources and contract support would suggest, and the losses have often arrived in the kind of moments that define whether a rebuild becomes something bigger. The criticism now is not about whether Leipold stabilized the program, but whether the job has reached the point where the next leap requires more than the foundation he already built. [Read more 🡒]