Kansas Football vs. Missouri: Get to Know the Tigers

The Kansas Jayhawks are set to welcome the No. 23 Missouri Tigers back to Lawrence this weekend for the 122nd edition of the Border War.

This marks the first time that the Jayhawks and Tigers have faced off in Lawrence since 2005 when KU came out victorious in a low-scoring affair by a final score of 13-3. Since then, it’s been a lopsided rivalry as the Tigers have won six of the last seven games dating back to November 2006.

The Jayhawks hope to even up the series more with a win on Friday night – which would be big for head coach Lance Leipold and the KU program.

Here’s a look at this year’s Missouri Tigers team.

History

Missouri narrowly owns the all-time series record 57-55-9 heading into Friday’s contest. But while they’ve won six of the last seven meetings, they have not beaten KU in Lawrence since Oct. 20, 2001. That was the only road victory for the Tigers in this series between 1991 and 2005 as KU went 6-1 at home during that stretch.

KU’s all-time record at home versus Missouri stands at 28-20-4.

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Record

Missouri enters Friday’s game with a 1-0 record. The Tigers handily defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff in their season opener last weekend in Columbia by a final score of 54-14.

Missouri was picked to finish 10th in the SEC Preseason Media Poll this year after finishing eighth in the conference last season.

Key Players

The Tigers have the good fortune of getting back their Preseason All-SEC left tackle Cayden Green for this week’s game. He’ll be a key piece to protecting quarterback Austin Simmons, who transferred to Missouri from Ole Miss this offseason.

Simmons threw for 252 yards and four touchdowns in the Tigers’ season opener on 17-0f-19 passing. He played about as well as a quarterback can in that game, and he’ll be a big test for Austin Alexander, Jalen Todd, and the rest of the KU secondary.

Sophomore wide receiver Donovan Olugbode also had a big game in week one, racking up seven catches for 107 yards and two touchdowns in the season opener. Wide receivers Cayden Lee and Shaun Terry II also had good games with each scoring a touchdown and each having more than 50 yards receiving.

Coaching

The Tigers are led by head coach Eli Drinkwitz. He’s in sixth season as head coach at Missouri and owns a 47-29 (.618) record overall. Drinkwitz has three winning seasons in that span and has guided the Tigers to five bowl game appearances – two of which they’ve won (2023 Cotton Bowl and 2024 Music City Bowl).

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