Columbia, Missouri — The Border War Revival belongs to Mizzou.
But just barely, even if the 42-31 final score makes it look like Saturday’s MU win over Kansas was much more comfortable.
The Jayhawks took a 21-6 lead in the most improbable fashion on bitter rival Missouri on Saturday, injecting some life into the KU sideline and some fear into the Tigers and the sold-out and salivating home crowd of 57,321.
But Kansas’ bid for an upset in the first Border War game in 14 years came up short, with the Tigers making enough plays late on both sides of the ball to win for the fourth consecutive time in the rivalry.
More from Saturday's Border War...
• Sarah Buchanan Photo Gallery
• A look at what Kansas gained on Saturday in painful loss to Mizzou
KU (2-1) went ahead with 8:45 to play and had two chances to stop the Tigers. But Mizzou (2-0) delivered twice, first on a 4th-down touchdown from 27 yards out to regain the lead (35-31) and then by putting the nail in the coffin with a 63-yard TD run following a KU decision to punt the ball away with 2:45 to play instead of trying to extend a potential game-winning drive with its offense.
Missouri was a 5.5-point favorite at kickoff on Saturday and the game landed right about there, with the final touchdown being more of an afterthought than part of the outcome.
Still, KU’s chance to steal a win in enemy territory, which would’ve been massive both in the short term and the big picture, slipped away.
The Jayhawks were clearly disappointed after the loss, but likely will find a few things to feel good about when they look back at the way they battled. More on that in another article.
For now, here’s a look back at some of Saturday’s most meaningful action.
LIKES
• Quick adjustments by Z & Co. – The first offensive series by Kansas was dull and predictable. It also went nowhere. And while it seemed at the time like that might be a really bad sign against a really good Mizzou front seven, KU OC Jim Zebrowkski immediately mixed things up and started to be more diverse and multiple with what he was calling. For the most part, KU QB Jalon Daniels and the offense executed it well and made the Tigers chase. It was a good response to what looked like a terrible start. And it made this a game to the end.
• DeShawn Hanika plays big – If you ask him, DeShawn Hanika didn’t do enough on Saturday and let his team down. Talking with the media after the loss, he was particularly hard on his blocking and how he didn’t do enough — both personally and in getting his teammates ready — to keep Jalon Daniels clean and give the KU QB a chance to do what he can do. That said, the stats say Hanika played an important role in an overall impressive effort by a Kansas offense that was largely one-dimensional because of its inability to get much going in the run game. Hanika finished with 74 yards on 6 catches, with 2 of them being touchdowns, including a go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter. He’s big, reliable, athletic and experienced. And his skill and maturity are huge assets for this offense and, as an emerging weapon in the passing game for Daniels.
• Hello, Bangally! – After missing the Jayhawks’ win over Wagner following what KU called a non-contact injury, KU linebacker Bangally Kamara was not only back in uniform and playing 10 days later, but he actually played quite well and made a big impact in the middle of that Kansas defense. Kamara finished the day with third on the team in tackles, with 9, including 4 solo stops and 2 tackles for loss.
• Bye week up next – On the heels of an emotional rivalry game and a week before the start of Big 12 play sounds like the perfect time for a bye week. And that’s exactly what the Jayhawks get now. But rather than looking ahead to it like an opportunity to lay back and rest, the KU players and coaches talked after this game about showing up on Monday ready to work with the focus on getting better. If nothing else, that’s something this team can take away from Saturday’s tough loss to the Tigers. They’re close. In many ways they’re there. They now just have to figure out how to be “there” all the time against whoever they play. Even though they don’t have a game next Saturday, I don’t think you’ll see a single person in that program who views next week as an off week. And that’s an important step in continuing to push this program forward.
• Watch party back home – While a solid number of Kansas fans made the trek over to Columbia for this one, quite a few more stayed back home to attend a watch party at the new Booth on a gorgeous day. Admission was free and the fans were able to tour the stadium on their own and sit on the field to watch the game on the massive and crystal-clear brand-new video board. Several thousand fans turned out for the event to cheer on their Jayhawks on a beautiful Saturday for football.
DISLIKES
• The first 5 minutes – There’s no denying that the start of this one was about as bad as you could’ve drawn it up for the visitors from Lawrence. After taking the ball following the coin toss — which they lost — the Jayhawks went 3-and-out on their first offensive series, showing twice that they could not move the Missouri front enough to open a running lane for Daniel Hishaw Jr. or Leshon Williams Jr. After being stuffed on 3rd-and-1, the Jayhawks punted the ball away to the Tigers and then saw Mizzou march 70 yards in 5 plays for the first score of the game. The Mizzou drive featured two crucial missed tackles by Kansas, including one of the 32-yard touchdown run. The saving grace, which may have wrestled back a little momentum for KU, was that Tommy Dunn Jr. blocked the Tigers’ extra point attempt.
• Defense out there way too long – At one point during the first half, the Tigers had run 31 of 32 offensive plays, with the Jayhawks’ scratching and clawing on defense for the majority of the 2nd quarter. During that same time frame, KU’s total yardage number for the game actually went backwards, with the 102 passing yards being offset by the -4 rushing yards. KU finished the first half with 105 yards of offense and just 2 yards on the ground. After a Mizzou field goal as time expired in the 2nd quarter tied the game at 21 at halftime, the Jayhawks’ defense was forced to go back out there for a 10-play drive to start the 3rd quarter. To their credit, the Jayhawks stood tall on that drive. But that was still a bunch of plays piling up for a tired unit that struggled with pursuit, coverage and tackling at some key points in Saturday's loss.
• 4th down defense – The Kansas defense had trouble sustaining its momentum for most of the afternoon. But never did that show up or hurt more than when the Tigers faced fourth down. There were plenty of moments out there today when it looked like Mizzou played knowing/planning it would go for it on fourth down if third down didn’t go well. On a few of those occasions, they picked up what they needed on third. But when they didn’t, they were awfully successful on fourth down finishing 4 for 5 on do-or-die downs, with two of the four successful conversions going for touchdowns. Hard not to look at that, if you’re Kansas, and think, ‘What if?’
WHAT THE?
• What a wild first half – It’s not the only way you could describe the first half but it’s probably the best — What the?!?!? While the game wound up with a rather common score at the break, the way they got to the 21-all tie was anything but ordinary. Fumbles, defensive touchdowns, wild calls (and no-calls) and more, not to mention the fact that the first two drives of the game foreshadowed a Mizzou blowout but it was actually Kansas that led for most of the half and much of the game. Not since RGIII woke up in the 4th quarter of a game his Baylor Bears were trailing at Kansas have I seen a game flip so quickly. Mizzou marched and looked unstoppable on its opening drive, after holding KU to 3-and-out on the game’s first possession. But then KU took control and stayed in control for most of the half. But two fumbles — one they lost — turned the momentum back to Mizzou and gave the Tigers time to overcome what could’ve been a very uncomfortable first half that led to disaster.
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