Missouri uses second half surge to extend win streak in Border War

LAWRENCE, Kan. — The 122nd edition of the Border War didn’t disappoint in entertainment, with it being a tale of two halfs, along with some extra curricular activities as time expired.

The Jayhawks were physical, and traded blows throughout the night with an SEC contender, but once the smoke cleared the Tigers won the game 38-21. It was Missouri’s fifth-straight win in the series, and first victory in Lawrence since 2005. Coach Eliah Drinkwitz realized his team was inside a snakepit when the noise from the crowd of 32,000 grew louder, and still trusted his players to weather the storm.

The chippy affair didn’t start out pretty for the Tigers though, especially on special teams. In the first quarter quarterback Austin Simmons drove the offense downfield, and had the Tigers in position to score, but a Jayhawk defender blocked Blake Craig’s 43-yard field goal attempt.

After the game went scoreless through the first 15 minutes, Missouri had another opportunity to put three points on the board midway through the second quarter. However, the same thing happened to Craig’s kick, and the blocked ball landed in the hands of Kansas’ cornerback Austin Alexander, who returned it 88 yards for a touchdown.

That’s when the momentum shifted to the Jayhawks’ side, and Drinkwitz knew his squad was in for a dogfight, but loved how they responded. On the Tigers’ next possession, running back Jamal Roberts broke open to the outside, took the pigskin 64 yards to the house and finally put the team on the board.

“The penalties, and adversity that we kind of created in the first half, we didn’t flinch,” Drinkwitz said. “We talked about how fighters gotta go in, and take the underdog’s best shot, you can’t flinch, you can’t give them anything easy, and that’s just what happened.”

Kansas (1-1) didn’t back down either. With under six minutes in the first half, Jayhawk quarterback Isaiah Marshall led the offense on a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, that put them ahead 14-7. Regardless, Simmons answered the bell with under two minutes left in the second quarter. The gunslinger led Missouri on a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, that included some nice completions, and ended with a connection to wideout Cayden Lee.

Although the Tigers went into halftime with the game tied at 14, Drinkwitz was frustrated that they didn’t finish a couple of drive due to penalties, and mental mistakes. So he had a deep talk with his team over the break, and made the necessary adjustments. It worked too, because the Tigers came out like a team on a mission in the second half.

The Jayhawks received the ball to start the final 30 minutes of the contest, but lost a fumble on their initial possession. The turnover added extra motivation on Missouri’s sideline, and the players were eager to capitalize on the great field position.

Simmons picked up from where he left off, and continued to light up the Jayhawks’ secondary like the Las Vegas strip. The Miami native made difficult throws look easy with the way he squeezed the pigskin into tight windows, and connected with wide reciever Donovan Olugbode for an eight-yard touchdown on Missouri’s first drive of the second half.

The No. 23 Tigers started to play complimentary football, and the defense forced another turnover on the Jayhawks’ next drive. Linebacker Robert Woodyard intercepted Marshall’s pass, and returned it to the redzone to put Missouri back in business. Running back Xai’Shaun Edwards rushed for a 10-yard score on the Tigers’ next drive to put them up by two touchdowns five minutes into the third quarter.

At that point it appeared the Tigers smelled blood in the water on defense, turned up the pressure on Marshall, and the floodgates started to open in Drinkwitz’s eyes.

“I thought we pressured the quarterback (Marshall), made him uncomfortable all night, but didn’t do a great job in the first half with maintaining containment,” he said. “We gotta be more disciplined, build opposite pressure to stay high, and not let the quarterback get out.”

Kansas did score one final touchdown in the last three minutes of the third quarter, but was held scoreless for the final period. Meanwhile Craig was able to redeem himself in the fourth quarter with a 32-yard field goal. Simmons put the finishing touches on the evening with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Brett Norfleet.

Drinkwitz was glad to see Simmons take advantage of the spotlight, which he expected out of the signal-caller. After all, Simmons completed 19 of his 29 pases for 292 yards and three touchdowns. Most importantly, Simmons didn’t turn the ball over, and that’s what Drinkwitz admired about the veteran.

“He (Simmons) played unbelievable, didn’t flinch, and I thought his third down conversions were as good as I’ve seen,” the 43-year old said. “I mean he’s putting balls in tight spots.”

Roberts finished with 125 yards on the ground, to go along with a score. Edwards ended up with 45 rush yards. Both Olubbode, and Lee eclipsed the century mark in receiving yards, and found the endzone.

Missouri (2-0) dominated on paper, and led Kansas in total offense, passing yards, rushing yards, plays, yards per play, first downs, third down conversions and time of possession. The Tigers also outscored the Jayhawks 24-7 over the final 30 minutes of the game.

Defensively Nicholas Rodriguez, and Santana Banner led the Tigers with six tackles apiece. Rodriguez also sacked Marshall. Not to mention Daeden Hopkins made Marshall eat grass too.

Drinkwitz gave out three game balls to Simmonds, Woodyard and Green for their heroics on the gridiron.  Unfortunately after the game, the Tigers tried to plant their flag at midfield, which triggered the Jayhawks, and a brief scuffle transpired. Drinkwitz warned his players not to disrespect the opposition as he gave his postgame interview, and had to intervene separate the two teams afterwards.

Despite the Tigers being able to beat and hoist the drum after the victory, Drinkwitz thought it was a shame that his players couldn’t win with class. So he’s going to make sure that they get the memo with an intense week of practice approaching game three.

“I was disappointed in the rivalry, and the turn that it took today because I thought that was uncalled for, so I was embarrassed for them to be honest, and that’s why I tried to embarrass them at the end.”