Little, if anything, about the Kansas-Mizzou rivalry is normal. Its origins, its games, its players. Normalcy doesn’t exist in the Border War.
So, it was only fitting that, after a 14-year hiatus in the historic football rivalry, mind-boggling moments returned to Faurot Field on Saturday. This time around, Mizzou came out on top.
Behind efficient offense and timely plays on defense, the Tigers took the 121st Border War on Saturday by a score of 42-31.
What started as a sweet afternoon of football turned sour for MU, then sweet again, then sour again. It was like a Sour Patch Kid that the Tigers couldn't swallow.
After a frantic first half, the scoring -- particularly Kansas' -- slowed over the final two quarters. Mizzou entered the fourth quarter leading 28-24. Kansas gave MU a taste of its own medicine with a long touchdown drive to start the final frame, only for the Tigers to respond with one of their own. The drive was punctuated by a 27-yard passing touchdown on fourth-and-one from Beau Pribula to tight end Brett Norfleet.
The Tigers went for it successfully all afternoon, converting on four of their five fourth-down attempts.
Pribula was masterful Saturday, completing 30 of his 39 pass attempts, connecting for three touchdowns, and leading Mizzou's offense to 588 total yards. By contrast, KU managed just 226 yards of offense.
After MU forced a Kansas punt, an unexpected hero sealed a Tiger victory. Jamal Roberts, whose longest carry before Saturday was 14 yards, flew down the left sideline for a 63-yard touchdown with under two minutes remaining. As mentioned, normalcy does not exist in the Border War.
On the ensuing KU possession, Daylan Carnell intercepted Jalon Daniels, and Mizzou ran out the clock to the sound of a rowdy Memorial Stadium crowd. Carnell did a masterful job dragging his foot to stay in-bounds, with the play originally ruled an incompletion before it was reviewed.
The border belonged to the Tigers.
Early on, Mizzou football was flying. Following a KU three-and-out to start the game, MU moved the ball easily on its first drive, converting three first downs before Ahmad Hardy scored a 32-yard rushing touchdown.
Then, the Jayhawks soared right past them. Kansas pieced together two 50+ yard touchdown drives that used slightly more than five minutes of the clock near the end of the first quarter. Jalon Daniels completed eight of his first 10 passes for 104 yards, including a 50-yard rainbow to Levi Wentz that set up a touchdown on a quarterback sneak.
Sandwiched in between those drives was a KU scoop-and-score. Blake Herold punched the ball out of Pribula’s grasp on a scramble, and Austin Alexander picked up the the loose ball to score.
Just as they have so many times over the past two years, the Tigers found a way back. They scored 10 points on two drives that combined for 32 plays and more than 15 minutes of game action. They got two more points on a safety. Zion Young sacked Daniels, whose fumble was recovered by KU in the end zone.
It was toward the end of the first half when the wonkiness reached a fever pitch. Improbably, Mizzou went 84 yards in 25 seconds, with Kevin Coleman Jr. almost scoring a touchdown with three seconds left in the half. MU settled for a field goal.
The fumble was Pribula's only real lowlight of the day, as he made a handful of big-time throws, especially on third down. Among their big fourth-down conversions was the go-ahead touchdown from Pribula to Norfleet.
Hardy and Roberts each tallied big days on the ground, combining for 243 yards on 45 carries. Coleman Jr. led the way in receiving with 126 yards on 10 receptions, including a drive-saver on fourth down. He hung onto the ball despite taking a massive hit.
Mizzou did an exceptional job of controlling the clock, as five of its drives took at least 10 plays and burned more than 4:30 off the clock. Kansas possessed the ball for just 56 seconds in the second quarter.
