Kansas didn’t walk out of the Border Showdown with the result it wanted, but the loss to No. 23 Missouri still left a few clear signs of life - and one glaring problem that hung over the whole night.
The Jayhawks were outscored by three possessions, and nobody in Lawrence is pretending that feels good. Still, there were stretches when Kansas matched Missouri better than many expected, especially early, and that mattered. Against one of the better teams in the SEC, KU stayed in the fight in the first half and showed enough in a couple areas to build on.
The most encouraging work came up front. Missouri may be the toughest trench test Kansas sees all season, and the Jayhawks’ defensive line held its own for long stretches.
Jamal Roberts popped a few big runs and Kansas wore down late, but the physical mismatch that some expected never fully showed up. Even if the numbers told a harsher story, the Jayhawks weren’t getting shoved around snap after snap.
Leroy Harris III stood out in a big way. The 6-foot-5, 270-pound defensive end was everywhere, stacking up several key tackles and getting a hand on Blake Craig’s field goal attempt that Austin Alexander then returned for a touchdown.
David Santiago, Dak Brinkley and Kevin Oatis also had their moments. And Kansas was doing that against Cayden Green, who is described as a future NFL Draft pick, along with other strong Missouri linemen.
Based on this matchup, there may not be another opponent on KU’s schedule that asks as much of that front.
Kansas also showed some fight after Missouri had chances to seize complete control. The clearest example came on special teams, where Taiwo Onatolu’s unit delivered consecutive field goal blocks to open the game.
That kind of swing can change everything, and it helped cover for an ugly start on offense. The defense chipped in with important stops, too, and Kansas kept Missouri scoreless for the first 20 minutes of the night.
That resilience didn’t carry all the way through, though. Kansas eventually ran out of answers in the second half and hurt itself with turnovers, but it didn’t simply fold when the game started slipping away.
The downside was impossible to ignore: the quarterback play. Isaiah Marshall was too inconsistent in his first start against an FBS opponent.
He went 13-of-30 passing, threw two interceptions and lost one of his three fumbles. The accuracy issues on routine throws were the biggest concern of all.
Leipold said after the game that Marshall took a hit to the arm early, which he said affected the passing. Even so, the two-game sample size suggests there’s more to the story, and this was Marshall’s first start against a real defense.
There were always going to be growing pains with the redshirt sophomore, but this is a different kind of uncertainty for Kansas fans. Jalon Daniels had his rough stretches over the past few years, but even then there was a steadiness to his game that Marshall hasn’t shown yet.
For now, every Marshall dropback comes with a little more tension. That’s the reality Kansas is dealing with after Friday night.
In Other News...
Kansas Let This Rivalry Game Slip Away For One Frustrating Reason
Kansas had the kind of first half that suggested the Border War might come down to a few key swings, with the teams tied 14-14 at the break before Missouri pulled away in the second half. The Jayhawks kept themselves in range early, but the game started tilting once Missouri began piling up yardage and Kansas could not match it for long stretches.
The bigger issue was the turnover battle, where Kansas gave it away three times and could not recover from the extra empty possessions. Isaiah Marshall had a rough afternoon as the offense stalled around him, and Kansas was outgained 469 yards to 255 in a loss that felt like it got away from them after halftime. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Suddenly Has A Quarterback Problem It Cant Ignore
Isaiah Marshall got his first start against an FBS opponent and the spotlight came with plenty of growing pains. With Cole Ballard forced out early after what looked like a shoulder injury, Marshall had to carry the offense the rest of the way, and the numbers told the story of a quarterback still trying to find his footing. He completed passes for 168 yards and found the end zone twice, but the overall performance was uneven enough to leave the sense that Kansas is still searching for stability behind center.
The bigger concern is less about arm talent than about the parts of the position that tend to decide close games. Marshall showed some mobility and a knack for improvising when plays broke down, but his decision-making and poise drew real questions from both the coaching staff and fans. Kansas can live with mistakes from a young quarterback while he develops, but it is getting harder to ignore the uncertainty that has crept into the room. [Read more 🡒]
Drinkwitz Just Turned Kansas Into A Bigger Rivalry Flashpoint
The Border Showdown already had enough edge to matter, but the latest meeting between Kansas and Missouri pushed the series back into the national conversation. Kansas helped set the tone with a pregame hype video, and the response from Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz made clear this was never going to feel like an ordinary nonconference game. Even with the on-field result in the rearview, the rivalry has kept its bite because both sides understand how quickly the emotion can spill beyond the lines.
Lance Leipold handled the fallout in a far calmer register, saying Missouri had every right to keep scoring and that Kansass job was simply to stop it. Drinkwitz, meanwhile, did little to suggest he wants the series to become a bigger annual event, especially with the teams not scheduled to meet again until 2031. For Kansas, the deeper issue is not just the outcome of one game but the way a long-dormant rivalry can suddenly feel bigger, sharper and harder to leave alone. [Read more 🡒]