Rivalries aside — and, yeah, I know it’s hard to put this particular rivalry to the side no matter when it’s played or what sport you’re talking about — the Kansas Jayhawks (1-0) sit on the brink of learning what their football team is made of early in the 2026 season.
SEC foe. At home. With a bunch of players who are new to the Border War rivalry. And on the heels of a 51-6 win in the season opener, their sixth straight under Lance Leipold.
Truth be told, though, KU offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki said he doesn’t think the KU coaches need this type of game to learn about their guys. He saw all he needed to see throughout the offseason and a tough preseason camp that was, in many ways, designed to reveal just that — how tough are they and who can the coaches count on?
“I think some people would say that, you know; I think that probably sounds like something you'd hear on a talk show,” Kotelnicki said of this Friday’s matchup with Missouri at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in Lawrence being a chance to learn something about your team. “But the reality is, if you're practicing the way that we practice, you learn a lot about your team. If you practice well, if you practice hard, if you make sure that the periods are competitive and the matchups are good, you can uncover what they're made of throughout practice.”
A win, then, would do wonders for KU’s momentum heading into the rest of the season, not to mention the bragging rights it would give the home team’s fan base.
But topping the Tigers (1-0) would not necessarily be the thing that tells Kotelnicki that he’s got a good team with some tough players and talent in several key spots.
He already believes that. He saw it throughout camp and he saw it in Week 1. Now, the goal is to show it in Week 2, no matter who lines up on the other side.
“To be honest with you, if your process is locked up, it doesn't really change (with) who you're playing,” Kotelnicki said Monday. “Really (it’s) us; we're the opponent, right? Like we have to do a great job of taking care of our business because if we feel that we can control the outcome of a game by how we perform, then the only thing we control is how we prepare.”
That’s not to say that Kotelnicki or anyone on the Kansas side of the state line is looking at this as just another game. He made that clear Monday, when he shared his knowledge of the history of the rivalry between the two states — not just football programs — and how it all dates back to the Civil War era and some real hatred and evil-doing.
“This is rooted in American history,” Kotelnicki explained. “Americana. Freedom. It’s generations of wrongs that we had to correct as a country that are represented in this game... It’s deep. It’s deep. So, it is unlike other rivalries.”
But the process of preparing for the football game part of it — playing it, calling it and adjusting during it — is similar to the dozens of other games they’ve already seen in their careers. Coaches and players alike.
“You know, there's still a thing about executing what you got to do, and getting that done... But I know this: Our guys will be excited to take the field.”
— KU coach Lance Leipold on this week's Border War battle with Missouri
KU coach Lance Leipold explained as much on Monday when he put the KU-MU Border War matchup in Week 2 of the current season into its own unique perspective.
“I think what you’re looking for is some Knute Rockne-type motivational deal that we hate (Missouri) and all this,” Leipold said. “I think our guys learned a lot more about what it is. We talked about why this rivalry is beyond football. We talked about the history. I think we all are a little bit more (familiar) there, myself included, (than we were last year).”
He continued: “I know it’s not always popular to say this, but we’ve still got to play 10 more games after this one. And again, it’s important for a lot of reasons, for a lot of our fans, and again, keeping the main thing the main thing. But, yes, I think we’ve learned from that experience, and I think our guys have a different sense of appreciation this time around. But it’s still going to be (about) going out and doing the things right that are necessary to win games.”
A rough review of the KU roster revealed that no more than 25 or so current players could have been in attendance for last year's Border War game at Mizzou. And not all of those guys even played in the game.
So, yeah, the rivalry and experience in this kind of game is new to most of the Jayhawks and probably quite a few of the Tigers, too.
Leipold took the whole idea one step further when discussing how all of the history, hype and pregame motivational tactics in the world won’t make a lick of difference when the game is being played right in front of the 22 guys on the field.
“When you're in the trenches, if (KU left tackle) Calvin Clements is thinking about (the rivalry) at that moment, he's got to block somebody,” Leipold said matter-of-factly. “You know, there's still a thing about executing what you got to do, and getting that done and the right focus and preparation and training all the way through. But I know this: Our guys will be excited to take the field.”
Added Kotelnicki: “Put the ball down, you know. Let's go play.”
Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. Friday night on FOX. It will mark the first Border War game on Lawrence soil since 2005 and just the second football showdown between the two bitter rivals in the last 15 years.
Missouri won last year's meeting in Columbia, Mo., 42-31.
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