Border War prep begins

Kansas coach Lance Leipold was somewhat measured on Monday, when he met with the media to preview this weekend’s Border War renewal with the Missouri Tigers.

But don’t mistake Monday’s approach for that of a man who doesn’t understand what’s coming.

Leipold does. And he has since the day he got the job back in 2021.

His staff does. And they’re in the process of searching for every possible way to motivate, inspire and anger the Jayhawks ahead of Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. kickoff in Columbia, Missouri, on ESPN2.

No one is pettier about finding even the smallest possible motivational tactic in a rivalry game than a football coach.

And because of that, by the end of the week, these players will get it, too. There’s no doubt in my mind.

Give it time. Let the week play out. And trust that Jayhawks will be as ready as a team can be to renew this type of rivalry, even if most of them have next to no experience with it and simply cannot understand what has gone into it for more than 100 years on the field and dating back to the Civil War off it.

“I think we got a good understanding of some of (what the Border War is about). But the bottom line is we gotta go play football.”

— KU coach Lance Leipold

At his weekly press conference, Leipold said that they provided a little bit of a history lesson to the team on Monday in hopes of changing that. And there are plans to have a few former players come in throughout the week to give their perspective on the rivalry, as well.

They’ve even started preparing for the vicious Mizzou crowd and what promises to be a wild gameday atmosphere by pumping the song, “Mr. Brightside” over the speakers at KU’s indoor facility during Monday’s practice.

“These games can be intense,” Leipold said Monday. “To me, it’s what makes college football special. But, at the same time, it’s still a matter of how you prepare, your focus, everything you put into it and then going out and executing on game day.”

Leipold made it clear that he views Mizzou as an “extremely talented” football team and that he thinks KU is going to have to play very well — its best game to date — in order to have a shot.

The Tigers (1-0) opened the week as 7-point favorites and the line does not figure to move much, up or down, as we get closer to game time.

Outside of both team facilities, the buzz will build to a red-hot boil before Saturday. Truth be told, it’s been building with both fan bases ever since the schools announced the renewal of the football series back in 2020, nearly a year before Leipold was even hired.

Leipold said he’s heard about this game “for a long time,” and added that, of late, “you can tell it’s picked up.”

“My wife and I were at church (Sunday) and somebody wanted to talk about it,” he said. “I didn’t know it was the right time, really; they said, 'Kick their butt,' but didn’t say butt.”

Even Leipold found it hard not to smile a little when talking about what this game means to tens of thousands of Kansas fans, alums and former players.

But he hopes that all of the venom and fire that comes with it merely adds to the Jayhawks’ chances of coming out victorious.

“You hope it just intensifies one’s preparation and the things they have to go through, because once the ball’s kicked off, you have to go out and play,” Leipold began. “Your emotions can take you directions that can be counterproductive sometimes. So, I want to make sure that this team is well prepared and focused on playing their best football because we’re playing a very good football team.”

KU quarterback Jalon Daniels, who has transformed at least in part from Cali kid to lifelong Jayhawk during his six years in Lawrence, said former KU running back and Lawrence native Devin Neal did a “great job” of informing him about what the KU-Mizzou rivalry means to Lawrence.

“Before he left, he was like, ‘Damn, JD. I mean, you get to play the rivalry I don't,’” Daniels recalled after Friday’s win over Wagner. “So, he gave me the background of the entire rivalry and I know how deep it gets. Coming from a California kid, the USC-UCLA rivalry is not as deep as the Kansas-Missouri rivalry. So, that’s something that we definitely take seriously.”

That wasn’t the only way Neal tried to put his hand prints on Saturday’s Border War.

“Devin did ask if he could come back and play this game,” Leipold said of the KU great who was in town for Friday’s win over Wagner. “He said it to me walking off the field Friday night. He goes, ‘I’ll even come back as a walk-on.’”

That won’t happen, of course. But by the time Saturday rolls around, Leipold believes the Jayhawks will be ready to uphold their end of what made KU-Mizzou one of the best rivalries in college sports for decades before ending in 2011, when Missouri left the Big 12 for the SEC.

“I think that's what makes college football what it is,” Leipold said of the Border War. “But, again, we want it to be done the right way, and we believe in doing things the right way and competing hard on the field, and having it settled there, not in a parking lot or in the stands or all those different things that may happen at times. We want to make sure that we’re at our best when our best is needed.

“I think we got a good understanding of some of (what the Border War is about). But the bottom line is we gotta go play football.”

The Tigers and Jayhawks have not faced each other on the gridiron since 2011, a 24-10 MU win at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.

The Jayhawks haven’t played in Columbia since 2006 and haven’t won there since 2004.

According to KU, Missouri leads the all-time football series that was played continuously from 1919 through 2011, 56-55-9, with Saturday’s game at Faurot Field being the 121st meeting.

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