1. kansas is legit
You can point to the 16 years of football ineptitude. You can think they suck because of their colors and names. But you can’t deny the Lance Leipold is a miracle worker and has crafted a competent, deadly football team in a place that struggles to even be relevant. Leipold is very Pinkel-esque in his build, finding scratch-and-dent recruits that work well in his option-based, ball-control scheme. kansas was game from the jump and it lead to an epic back and forth, just the way this game should always
be. It took 56 minutes for kansas to crumble on the road against an SEC team and Leipold and his staff deserve all the credit in the world.
Also I hope they all have hang nails and their ride home is filled with issues.
2. The offensive line continues to be an issue
Four sacks. Times two pressures. Multiple TFLs and stuffs at the line. The kansas defensive line is old and excellent but the o-line did themselves no favors in blocking acumen. There were stretches of excellence undone by moments of bad. The fact that they got better as the game went on is absolutely a positive but Missouri is only going to face more d-lines of similar and better quality to kansas’, not fewer.
3. Beau Pribula is legit
The calmness that Pribula operates with is incredible. Facing numerous 3rd-and-longs and 4th downs due to a lack of a kicker, the proverbial “Drew Aller backup” showed he was so much more, operating this offense with a steady knowledge that really stands out. He was mostly good at feeling pressure and moving. He did a great job of assessing threat levels on his pass depth decisions. He commanded drives like a fifth-year senior and was deadly accurate. 330 yards passing and 3 touchdowns with 0 interceptions. Best quarterback since Drew Lock? Maybe!
4. The ground game is in good hands
Yes, yes, Ahmad Hardy is legit. But hello Jamal Roberts! In easily his best game of his career, Roberts grinded tough yards, broke off explosive rushes, and was an excellent complimentary battery ram to Hardy’s punishing runs. His 63-yard scamper to seal kansas’ fate is one of the Henry Josey-esque plays that will be stamped in Mizzou fans’ memories for years to come.
The kansas defense was excellent in the stretch plays but both backs were punishing and reliable. You’d like a few less fumbles from Hardy but Coach Luper’s boys were the steady engine that kept the Missouri offense going. What an incredible two-man weapon that will be for the rest of the season, especially since the quarterback can’t risk running as much as he’d want.
5. This rivalry is awesome and worth playing now and forever
Look, I’m not saying I have any positive feelings for kansas, their fans, their players, their institution, or even their state. But as a kid who grew up in the Big 8 and Big 12 years, this game (and Oklahoma last year) brought immense waves of happy nostalgia to my college football bloodstream, let alone the excitement of excellent football. At its core, college football was built on regional rivals and long standing histories of competition between similar institutions and fanbases who hate each other for the zip codes they live in and colors they wear. The caliber of paper that one gets from either institution isn’t different in the real world…but this makes it different, and gives us something fun to look forward to. The losses make you want to die while the wins make you think nothing bad can ever happen again. You need it. We need it. kansas needs it, even though they’ll never admit it. TV greed has corrupted this sport for decades and the loss of regional rivalries is an unfortunate causality of capitalism…but it doesn’t have to be. Yes, keep the Playoff. Sure, make mega conferences. But keep this regional rivalry games. It makes everything worth it.
