Missouri left Lawrence with a win, but not with any illusion that everything is fixed.
The Tigers beat Kansas 38-21 on Friday night in the Border War, and the final score only tells part of the story. Missouri spent most of the first half looking shaky on a big stage, then steadied itself enough in the second half to pull away from the mistakes that nearly buried it early.
The ugliest stretch came on special teams. Blake Craig’s first two field-goal tries were blocked, and the second block was returned for a touchdown, pushing Missouri into a 7-0 hole after the extra point. That kind of meltdown would be hard to survive against stronger competition, and it was enough to raise immediate concerns about how much room this team has for error once SEC play begins.
"Special teams was was not good tonight in any form or facet, and that's going to get cleaned up," Drinkwitz said. "But we overcame it, and that's what you got to do on the road."
Missouri gets a break in the sense that Kansas is projected to finish near the bottom of the Big 12. The Tigers won’t get that kind of cushion once the SEC schedule starts, beginning with a trip to Starkville against Mississippi State before home games against Florida and Texas A&M.
If the support around him was uneven, Austin Simmons was anything but. In the biggest game of his career, the first-year Tiger went 19 of 29 for 292 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He worked the ball to different spots, completed throws on the move and answered in a variety of situations.
"He wanted to be great. It's Austin Simmons," edge rusher Darris Smith said. ...
"The way he threw the ball was crazy. I ain't seen that since I've been here."
Drinkwitz was just as impressed with how Simmons handled the pressure.
"He played unbelievable; didn't flinch," Drinkwitz said. "I thought his third-down conversions are as good as I've seen.
I mean, he's putting balls in tight spots, and they were doing so many different things on the back end. And normally, a quarterback gets frustrated.
He didn't. He just locked in.
I thought he made incredible reads. Didn't make very many misses.
Ball was not in jeopardy."
The ground game, though, never really got going. Missouri’s run blocking gave Jamal Roberts almost nothing to work with, and he was met in or near the backfield on most carries. Roberts finished with 4.3 yards per carry and 3.64 yards after contact, with his one real burst coming on a misdirection play that opened a huge lane.
Outside of that kind of design help, the run blocking looked ineffective against a Kansas defense that did not exactly overwhelm anyone.
There is still the possibility that Ahmad Hardy returns and changes the shape of that part of the offense. Hardy, a Doak Walker Finalist and Missouri’s single-season rushing record holder, brings a level of tackle-breaking ability that nobody else on the roster can match. Even so, the bigger question remains whether Hardy alone can restore the run game to what it was last season.
That issue matters because Missouri is going to see much tougher road settings later in conference play, including trips to Ole Miss and Georgia. Kansas may be the lesser team on paper, but the atmosphere for the Border War is still as hostile as they come, and Missouri did show something by surviving the early punch and clawing back.
With Mississippi State next on Sept. 26, the Tigers at least head into that stretch with a win and a few answers - even if plenty of questions are still waiting.
In Other News...
Robert Woodyard Just Flipped Mizzous Biggest Game Of The Night
Missouri and Kansas spent the first half trading punches in a tied Border Showdown, but the game turned sharply after halftime when Robert Woodyard started making the kind of plays that swing rivalry nights. The Missouri linebacker forced a fumble in the third quarter, then came back later to pick off a pass, and the Tigers cashed in on both chances with a pair of touchdowns to seize a 28-14 lead.
For a matchup that always carries extra edge, Woodyards sequence was exactly the kind of jolt Missouri needed to separate itself in a game that had been dead even at the break. With Kansas already on the wrong side of that momentum swing, the Tigers now have to carry the same defensive energy forward into next weeks meeting with Troy. [Read more 🡒]
Eli Drinkwitz Just Raised The Stakes In Mizzous Kansas Rivalry
The buildup to Missouris latest meeting with Kansas was already tense, but a pregame video from the Jayhawks added another layer to the rivalry when it referenced the series Civil War roots. Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz pushed back hard on that choice, calling it inappropriate and especially out of place on 9/11, when the tone around the game carried extra weight beyond the usual border bragging rights.
Missouri then answered on the field with a 38-21 win, its second straight in the revived series. Drinkwitz made clear afterward that he was disappointed by the video and left open a bigger question about what comes next, signaling that the future of the rivalry may be just as unsettled as the emotions around this latest chapter. [Read more 🡒]
Missouri Finally Delivered The Border War Road Win Fans Craved
Missouri walked out of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium with more than a rivalry win, finally snapping a nearly 25-year drought in Lawrence with a 38-21 victory over Kansas in the 2026 Border War. Austin Simmons helped set the tone with a strong passing night, throwing for 292 yards and three touchdowns, while Robert Woodyard Jr. made his presence felt on defense with a fumble recovery and an interception.
The Tigers still had to work for it before taking control in the second half, but the payoff was obvious for a program and fan base that had waited a long time for this road result. Beating Kansas on its field does more than add a line to the record book, and Missouri now has a fresh reminder of what it looks like when the rivalry swings its way. [Read more 🡒]