For Mizzou, Friday night in Lawrence is a lot more than just another tune-up. Border Battle No. 121 brings the Tigers back to Kansas for the first time since Oct. 29, 2005, and this one should tell us a whole lot more about where this team really stands than last week’s game ever could.
The first big swing factor is up front, where left tackle Cayden Green is expected to be back on the field. Drinkwitz said Green was a full participant in practice on Tuesday, and the Tigers are clearly better with him in the mix.
“There’s no concern for me in him being able to perform at the level that he needs to. So it’s really good.
I mean, that guy bleeds black and gold. He loves his teammates.
It’s an impressive thing for him to be back and ready to go on Friday night, I know that,” Drinkwitz said.
That matters because Mizzou’s rushing game looked a little flat against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Tigers still piled up 205 yards on 45 carries, good for 4.6 yards per attempt, but they managed only 85 rushing yards on 20 carries in the first half. With Ahmad Hardy still out and his return date unknown, Green’s presence should help steady an offensive line that now sends Jack Lange and Whit Hafer back into depth roles.
Kansas brings a tougher front than UAPB did. The Jayhawks held Long Island to one yard per carry, and that Sharks team sits 34 spots ahead of UAPB in Bill Connelly’s SP+ rankings.
Even so, the Jayhawks may be missing linebacker Daveon “Bam” Crouch, who is doubtful per Pete Thamel. Friday should help clarify whether Mizzou’s early-season run-game hiccup is a real issue or just a slow start.
The other side of the ball comes with a different kind of pressure test. Mizzou generated nine pressures in week 1, matching last year’s opener, but it didn’t finish the job with any sacks, and the tackling was sloppier than it needed to be. Pro Football Focus credited the Tigers with 14 missed tackles, including one from Darris Smith, plus misses from linebackers Nicholas Rodriguez, Robert Woodyard Jr., and Dante McClellan.
“We did not do a good enough job of displacing blocks in the backfield and then sacking the quarterback. There’s multiple times the we were there; we had them caged. But we’ve got to disengage and track the quarterback is going to be much bigger challenge this week.” - From Matthew Gustafson’s Tiger Talk Notes and Quotes: Border War Edition.
That challenge comes in the form of Isaiah Marshall. The Detroit-area native is a dual-threat quarterback who can hurt a defense with his legs, and he showed it last week against Long Island with seven carries for 49 yards. He averaged 10.7 yards per attempt on 15 carries a season ago, and he’s slippery enough to punish missed tackles in space.
Mizzou’s front seven has to be sharper against a quarterback like that. Smith and Kitchen are stepping into roles that replace more than 100 combined pressures from Zion Young and Damon Wilson II, and the linebackers can’t afford to give Marshall free yards when he breaks contain. Nobody is asking for a five-sack night, but if the Tigers can collapse the pocket and keep Marshall from escaping, that would say plenty about the defensive front.
Then there’s the secondary, which gets a far more serious test than it did against UAPB. Last week, Mizzou’s cornerbacks stayed tight in coverage and mostly kept their names out of the spotlight, which is exactly how you want it against a game like that. This one should be different.
Marshall can throw it, too. He posted 12.9 yards per attempt last week, with an aDOT of 11.9, and he was especially dangerous on throws of 20 yards or more, going 3-of-4 for 112 yards with a 96.3 passing grade in that area. That gives Mizzou’s three new starting cornerbacks a real stress test, especially Chris Graves Jr., Khalil Florence and Sione Laulea.
The Tigers got a quiet debut from their new-look secondary against a Golden Lions offense that could barely function. Friday night should reveal a lot more. And in a rivalry game like this, that’s the whole point.
In Other News...
Mizzou Returns To Kansas With A Border War Streak Under Pressure
The Border War has always carried more weight than an ordinary rivalry, and this trip to Lawrence brings a reminder of how deep the history runs between Missouri and Kansas. The matchup reaches back to the violent clashes of the 1850s and early 1860s, long before the football series began in 1890, and now the two schools are set to meet for the 122nd time. For Missouri, it is also the first visit to Lawrence since 2005, which adds a layer of novelty to a rivalry that already has plenty of baggage.
Missouri enters with the edge in the series and a four-game winning streak, but the Tigers recent success has not carried over to this venue. Missouri has not won in Lawrence since 2001, and that history hangs over a game that means more than just another nonconference date. Even with the Tigers holding the better overall record in the rivalry, this return to Kansas brings pressure that comes from both the past and the setting. [Read more 🡒]
Missouri Just Got A Week 2 Rivalry Call Fans Will Hate
Week 2 always has a way of sharpening the nerves, and Missouri is already part of one of the more intriguing discussions in the early-season upset forecast. The roundup leans on recent performances, coaching changes and player evaluations to sort through the matchups that could tilt, with several familiar names getting a close look as potential roadblocks in a college football slate that rarely goes exactly to script.
For Missouri fans, the uneasy part is where the conversation lands in the Border War frame, with a neighboring rival showing up as a live upset candidate in the same kind of speculative projection that also includes Michigan, Memphis and Iowa State. It is not a result, just a read on what could happen, but those are the kinds of calls that tend to linger because they turn a routine September week into a test of confidence before anyone has even taken the field. [Read more 🡒]
Missouri Faces A Border Showdown Twist That Could Decide Everything
The Border Showdown is set to return soon, giving Missouri and Kansas another shot at one of college footballs old regional rivalries, and this one arrives with plenty of uncertainty baked in. It will be the second meeting since Missouri joined the SEC, and it comes in Lawrence at a stadium still working through renovations, which only adds to the odd feel around a game that already carries more edge than most nonconference matchups.
Missouri is still sorting through its backfield situation, while Kansas has injury questions of its own heading into a game that could hinge on how two inexperienced quarterbacks handle the pressure. Isaiah Marshall and Austin Simmons are both being asked to step into a spotlight that can turn quickly in a rivalry like this, and the availability of key playmakers on each side may end up shaping which team has the cleaner path when the hits start coming. [Read more 🡒]