Mizzou found two decisive late-game responses to seal a 42-31 victory over its archenemy in a game featuring back-and-forth scores and momentum swings for nearly the entire game.
Veteran quarterback Jalon Daniels led Kansas on an long drive that gashed the Tigers’ secondary multiple times to give the Jayhawks the lead with just under nine minutes remaining in the contest.
But Beau Pribula upstaged his elder over the remaining 8 minutes and 45 seconds of action, leading the Mizzou offense on two touchdown
drives to lift them to a 42-31 win.
The Tigers responded to Daniels’ touchdown strike with a 75-yard drive that ate up four and a half minutes of clock and included two massive fourth down conversions.
Kevin Coleman Jr. held on to a 10-yard reception despite getting lit up on the tackle at the Kansas 36 yard line, allowing Pribula to connect with a wide open Brett Norfleet four plays later. The tight end took it 27 yards to the end zone, putting Mizzou ahead for good.
The Jayhawks’ final chance slipped through Emmanuel Henderson’s hands the next drive, and Jamal Roberts put the icing on the cake with a 63-yard rush to push the lead to double digits.
The St. Louis native outshined an also impressive Ahmad Hardy, collecting 143 rushing yards and averaging a gaudy 11 yards per carry. Hardy produced 105 yards on 23 carries for a strong 4.6 yard per carry, forming a dynamic one-two punch that accounted for nearly all of the squad’s 254 rushing yards.
The game’s final outcome rarely looked assured throughout the action.
The Tigers began the game backed by the energy of sold out Faurot Field. Hardy stole the show on the team’s first drive, picking up 48 of its 71 yards on the march to six, and punched in their first touchdown on a 32-yard run after breaking a Jayhawk tackle.
But Kansas quickly flipped all that momentum on its head with 21 unanswered points over eight minutes and 37 seconds of the first quarter.
Seasoned Jayhawks quarterback Jalon Daniels put together a superb first 15 minutes, connecting on six of eight passes for 102 yards and recording two total touchdowns. Mizzou’s defense struggled with the Kansas misdirection attack, allowing three receptions of 15 or more yards, including a 50-yard catch by Levi Wentz that set up the team’s third touchdown.
At the same time, the Tigers’ offensive momentum stalled out after a ruthlessly efficient opening drive. And the ball popped out on a Pribula scramble, allowing Austin Alexander to take it 28 yards to the end zone.
Needing a spark, Mizzou turned to its quarterback. Pribula connected with Coleman and Xavier Loyd for gains of 20 and 15 yards, respectively, on a drive that lasted just over seven minutes.
The Tigers finally punched into the end zone on a short fourth down pass to Coleman, finding the man in motion on a play designed to get him open in space. The score gave the team its first points in over 15 minutes of game action, making it 21-13 after Robert Meyer’s blocked PAT on the first touchdown.
Death Row Defense responded with a big play of its own. Zion Young forced a fumble by Daniels with the Kansas quarterback scrambling back to try and evade pressure on the first play of the drive, and the ball tumbled all the way into the end zone for a safety after Kansas fell on the ball.
The Tigers added two field goals from true freshman backup Robert Meyer in the final 10 minutes of the second quarter, including a 20-yarder with time expiring on a last-minute drive that featured a 39-yard rush by Jamal Roberts and Coleman 50-yard reception.
Mizzou’s response totaled up to 15 unanswered points over the final 17 minutes and 13 seconds of the first half, knotting the score in one of the most bizarre 21-21 halves of football ever seen. The team dominated in the second quarter, putting together 186 total yards to the Jayhawks’ -18.
The lopsided second quarter made the tight second half possible, allowing the Tigers to make a late charge to victory.
That charge would have not been possible without the play of Pribula, who completed 77% of his passes for 334 yards and three touchdowns. The Penn State transfer found a way to top his week one performance that set Columbia abuzz, leading Mizzou to the rivalry win.
The Tigers were pushed to their limit, but they found a way to push past Kansas in the end and retain the war drum for another year.
