The Border War opened with enough chaos to rattle Missouri, but the Tigers steadied themselves and walked out of Lawrence with a 38-21 win over Kansas in the 122nd meeting between the rivals.
It was Austin Simmons who kept Missouri from slipping any further when the game started tilting the wrong way, and he had plenty of help from Donovan Olugbode and Cayden Lee. Simmons finished 19 of 29 for three touchdowns and no interceptions, while Olugbode and Lee matched each other with six catches apiece. Olugbode turned his into 121 yards and a score, and Lee finished with 120 yards and a touchdown.
For a while, though, Missouri looked very much like a team trying to survive its own mistakes. The Tigers’ largest hole was just seven points, but it still carried the same uneasy feeling that hung over last season’s Border War. Two blocked field goals, including one Kansas turned into a touchdown, along with three false starts and shaky run blocking made the first half a slog.
Jamal Roberts gave Missouri a much-needed jolt with a 64-yard touchdown run, and he ended the night with 125 yards on 28 carries. Even with that burst, Simmons was carrying most of the load. He found Lee on a 27-yard touchdown as the first half wound down, keeping the Tigers close enough to reset for the second half.
That’s where Missouri flipped the game.
Kansas opened the third quarter with a quick three-and-out, and Robert Woodyard Jr. immediately turned the pressure up. The transfer linebacker forced and recovered a fumble from Isaiah Marshall on Kansas’ own 34-yard line, and Simmons cashed it in with a touchdown strike to Olugbode to push Missouri ahead 21-14.
Woodyard wasn’t done. On the next big swing, he intercepted Marshall and handed the Tigers the ball deep in Kansas territory.
Missouri leaned on Xai’Shaun Edwards from there, and two handoffs later the Tigers were in the end zone again. That made it 28-14 less than five minutes into the second half.
Edwards finished with 39 yards on nine carries and gave Roberts the support Missouri needed.
Woodyard also finished tied with Santana Banner for the team lead with six tackles. Jahlil Florence added another takeaway for Missouri, ripping the ball away from Keaton Kubecka for an interception.
Kansas answered with a touchdown to trim the margin to 28-21, but Missouri kept control from there. Blake Craig knocked through a 32-yard field goal on a long drive, and after both teams stalled out with punts, Kansas turned the ball over on downs in its own territory. That set up Brett Norfleet for his first touchdown of the season on fourth-and-8 in the red zone with 2:02 left, putting the game out of reach at 38-21.
Missouri did not get to Marshall often early, with its first sack not coming until the fourth quarter, but once the Tigers started getting home, they piled up four. Donta Simpson, Darris Smith, Nicholas Rodriguez and Daeden Hopkins each recorded 0.5 sacks or more.
The win leaves Missouri 2-0 in the renewed rivalry, with the next Border War meeting set for 2031 in Columbia. Before that, the Tigers host Troy at 6 p.m. Saturday in a game tied to the 100th anniversary of Memorial Stadium and a celebration of the 1960 Missouri team, which congress recently awarded a claim to the national championship from that season.
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 🡒]