LAWRENCE, Kan. - Missouri’s win over Kansas was decided on the field, but the night was already heated long before kickoff.
Kansas drew Missouri’s ire after posting a pregame video that leaned hard into the rivalry’s Civil War roots, using images of figures such as John Brown and William Quantrill. The 90-second clip, narrated by former KU nose tackle Gilbert Brown, included the line, “there’s right and wrong, there’s Kansas and Missouri.” The Jayhawks then played the video again on the scoreboard just before kickoff at David Booth Family Memorial Stadium.
Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz made clear he thought the whole thing crossed a line.
“I was disappointed in the rivalry, the turn that it took today,” Drinkwitz said. “I thought that was uncalled for.
This is about two teams playing football, and especially on 9/11, when we need more unity now than ever before, to be putting some stuff on your screen, celebrating - I mean, everybody's got complicated pasts. To make that an icon was bizarre to me, and so I'm just glad that this whole right-versus-wrong bullcrap that was started just got settled on a football field, because it's a football game.”
Missouri did more than settle it - it controlled the finish. After a slow first half, the Tigers pulled away for a 38-21 win, getting a strong second start from quarterback Austin Simmons and two big third-quarter turnovers from linebacker Robert Woodyard Jr.
Drinkwitz kept coming back to the same point: for him, the matchup should have stayed a football game, nothing more.
“It's a football game,” Drinkwitz said. “It's an American football game that people love to come watch and cheer for their teams.
It's not any deeper than that, and I get there's a past to it, but why are we stirring that bullcrap up? You know, it's 9/11.
This country needs unity now more than ever, and I was embarrassed for them, to be honest.
“And that's why I tried to embarrass them at the end.”
He was referring to Missouri’s late-game decision to keep pressing. With a 10-point lead and 13 yards from the goal line just before the two-minute warning, the Tigers went for it on fourth down and converted to stretch the margin. After getting the ball back with 34 seconds left and a 17-point lead, Missouri took another throw toward the end zone with backup quarterback Matt Zollers in the game, then ran one more play - a 6-yard run - before the clock ran out.
In short, Missouri made a point of its own.
The rivalry’s origins run deep into Civil War history, and that is part of what has made Missouri-Kansas one of college football’s nastiest matchups. The Missouri Tiger mascot traces back to the Columbia Tigers, a pro-Union militia home guard formed by Congressman James S.
Rollins to protect the town and university after the Centralia Massacre, the summary execution of 24 captured Union soldiers. Kansas’ Jayhawk name also comes from the war, tied to a pro-Union guerrilla group of raiders who attacked towns on the Missouri side of the border.
Missouri has now taken both games since the rivalry was revived after a 14-year break. The teams are not scheduled to meet again until 2031 in Columbia.
Drinkwitz didn’t sound eager to force the issue before then.
“I don't really care if it continues or not,” the coach said. “I mean, if they're going to be weird about it, then what's the point?
You know, if they want to have a football game and play a football game and have a great rivalry on the border, then awesome. Let's do it.
But if we want to make it deeper than that, man? We left Kansas bleeding again, so call it good.”
In Other News...
Kansas Leans Into Border War Tension With Provocative Missouri Message
With No. 23 Missouri headed into a rivalry matchup with Kansas, the old Border War is once again carrying the kind of edge that goes well beyond the standings. The game traces back to 1891, and the surrounding history still gives the meeting a sharper tone than most nonconference dates, with the two states' Civil War-era tensions lingering over a rivalry that has never really needed much extra fuel.
Kansas tried to add some with a Civil War-themed hype video narrated by former player Gilbert Brown, leaning directly into the conflict that has long shadowed this series. The matchup has always been tied to the bitter history between Missouri and Kansas, including the Lawrence Massacre and William Quantrill, so the Jayhawks' message was hardly subtle. For Missouri, it is the kind of promotional jab that can make the lead-up feel just as charged as the game itself. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Faces One Big Border War Test Against Missouri
Kansas and Missouri are about to meet again in football for the second time in two years, and the setup carries the sort of edge that still makes the Border War feel bigger than a normal nonconference game. Missouri goes in as a touchdown favorite, with the game set for Kansas Memorial Stadium and plenty of attention on how each side matches up, from key player availability to the areas where one team might have the upper hand.
For Missouri, the interest goes beyond the line on the board. Rivalry games tend to come down to execution and composure, and this one has the added twist of familiar opponents, fresh analysis and a chance to make a statement on the road. The predictions point to a close, meaningful test, but the real intrigue is whether Missouri can handle the setting and the pressure of a game that still matters a great deal on both sides of the border. [Read more 🡒]
Missouris Border War Plan Just Changed In A Big Way
Missouris prep for the Border War took a sharp turn this week, with the Tigers set to take on Kansas on Sept. 11 without two running backs who were part of the game plan. Ahmad Hardy remains out while he continues recovering from a gunshot wound and still has not met the practice requirements to return, and Malae Fonoti is done for the season after suffering an ACL tear. For a game with as much history and emotion attached to it as Missouri-Kansas, the depth chart is already looking different than it did when the matchup was first circled.
There is at least one encouraging development on the offensive line, though. Left tackle Cayden Green is expected back in the starting lineup after missing the season opener because of injury, which should help stabilize the front as Missouri adjusts to the absence in the backfield. Even so, the Tigers now have to sort out how they want to attack a Kansas defense with a thinner rotation behind the line of scrimmage than they had hoped for. [Read more 🡒]