Kansas gets a rare chance on Friday night to measure itself against a ranked rival, and the first conversation around Missouri inside the program starts with respect.
No. 23 Missouri comes to Lawrence for a matchup between 1-0 teams, both coming off home wins. Kansas recently announced the game will be a sellout, setting the stage for a road test that will tell the Jayhawks plenty about how much their home crowd can matter in a rivalry game.
For Lance Leipold, the rivalry still carries weight even if it has changed over time. Kansas’ head coach said the series is not what it once was, but last year’s meeting brought back the edge that made it matter in the first place.
He also said he hopes the game can played in the future. Before 2025, the teams had gone more than a decade without facing each other.
Leipold’s attention on Missouri began with the quarterback. He was impressed by the confidence and accuracy senior Austin Simmons showed in the opener.
Junior running back Ahmad Hardy did not play, but Leipold pointed to the rest of the Tigers’ backfield and the talent scattered throughout the offense. On defense, he described Missouri as long, athletic and disruptive, with a secondary that goes deep.
Kansas defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald saw plenty to respect on the other side of the ball, too.
He highlighted Missouri’s offensive line and noted that Hardy’s absence didn’t mean the Tigers were short on options at running back. He also came away impressed by Simmons, saying the quarterback showed why he was so highly regarded at Ole Miss.
The wide receivers, McDonald said, can run.
The challenge for Kansas, in McDonald’s view, starts up front and carries through the rest of the defense. Against Missouri’s line, the Jayhawks need to stay in their gaps and have linebackers and safeties fit where they’re needed. The secondary has to hold up in coverage, but Kansas also has to create pressure and push the quarterback into bad decisions.
Andy Kotelnicki, Kansas’ associate head coach, knows the rivalry extends past the field even though he wasn’t with the Jayhawks last year. He expects the atmosphere inside David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium to be strong and wants the crowd loud and obnoxious.
Still, he stressed that Kansas can’t let the opponent change how it operates. If the process shifts because of who’s on the other sideline, he said, then the process is broken.
Kotelnicki’s film study of Missouri’s opener - along with last year’s tape - showed him a defense that flies around and plays well. For Kansas to have a shot, he said, the offense has to protect the football, create explosive plays against a defense that makes that difficult, and block with physicality. With Kotelnicki back in Lawrence, this matchup also serves as the first major test for what Kansas’ offense can be.
The Jayhawks are at home and have a real chance to land a meaningful win. Even so, the prediction here leans toward Missouri in a game that should be physical and competitive, much like last year’s meeting in Columbia. The pick: Missouri 34, Kansas 24.
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