Kansas gets history lesson ahead of rivalry renewal with Missouri
Kansas and Missouri met every season from 1919 to 2011, with ties to the rivalry dating back to the Civil War. The two programs have not met on the football field since Missouri left for the SEC, but the rivalry will be renewed in Columbia on Saturday.
With almost an entire roster and coaching staff that hasn’t experienced the Border Showdown, the Jayhawks needed a history lesson as they prepared for the 121st meeting with the Tigers. Lance Leipold said they took the team through the roots of the rivalry to where it stands in the present day.
“We gave them a little background history today of, you know, all the way back to the border and what the border stood for in past history and free states and slave states and kind of went through the whole history where these two states have been competitive and not always agreed and then went through when the first game was played,” Leipold said. “And all the things that have gone on from there and where the series is at touched on when it hasn’t been played in a while. So I think they got a good understanding of some of that.”
Devin Neal helped educate Jalon Daniels, wants to play
Leipold said there may be an opportunity for former players to speak with the team this week. Devin Neal already educated Jalon Daniels about the rivalry, and Leipold said Neal asked if he could join the team for the game when he visited last week.
“Devin did ask if he could come back and play this game,” Leipold said. “He said, he said it to me walking off the field Friday night that he goes, ‘I’ll even come back as a walk on.’ So I appreciated that. But yeah, it’s important to understand some of those things and have some of those feelings and understanding.”
Leipold wants team to be enthusiastic, not emotional
While the rivalry does hold importance, Leipold said his team still has to go out and play football. He wants the Jayhawks to be enthusiastic, but not emotional.
“There’s a lot of things about [rivalries] making it special. To me, it’s what makes college football special,” Leipold said. “But at the same time, it’s still a matter about how you prepare, your focus and everything you put into it and then going out and executing on game day. We always want to be an enthusiastic team and not an emotional team. Your emotions sometimes can take you in directions that can be counterproductive sometimes.”
Kansas and Missouri had already scheduled the rivalry renewal when Leipold took the Kansas job in 2021. He has heard about it since then, but people have ramped up their excitement as game week approaches.
“My wife and I were at church yesterday, and somebody wanted to talk about it,” Leipold said. “I didn’t know that was the right time to really. Somebody said, you know, kick their butt, but didn’t say butt. And it was in church. I didn’t really think it was appropriate, but. So, I mean, yeah, you can tell it’s picked up.”
