Border War returns, Drinkwitz makes sure Tigers know the history
There are rivalries between blue bloods and rivalries with more famous trophies. But few rivalries in the country come with more hatred than the Border War.
But with the matchup halting after 2011, and without a matchup in the past 14 years, many people, including college-age players, have forgotten what makes it great.
So Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz had a plan to make sure his players understood what Saturday’s game meant to the community and Tiger fans.
“It means a lot to a lot of people,” Drinkwitz said. “It’s a privilege to wear the Mizzou on your chest. And when you wear Mizzou, you represent 6 million people in this state. … There’s just a lot of importance, and this is our chance to write our part of the story. The game’s not, you know, we’re going to continue to play this game. So this is just one part of the story, but it’s an important part. You get a chance to be a part of it.”
Guest speakers
One of the ways Drinkwitz made sure his players understood was by having guest speakers talk to the players throughout the summer.
The Tiger coach didn’t get into specifics about who spoke to the team or what they said, but he said the focus was the historical significance and the context surrounding the rivalry, going all the way back to before college sports.
“I think that was pretty important because, one, a lot of the guys are new, freshmen and transfers, and two, we haven’t played this game in a while,” Missouri quarterback Beau Pribula said of the guest speakers. “So just informing us on what the rivalry used to be, I think it was good to know.”
History lessons
Pribula, who grew up in Pennsylvania, wasn’t taught growing up about Bleeding Kansas or the battles along the border.
But even those growing up in the state nowadays don’t know a ton about the history of the matchup.
“Not a whole lot,” center Connor Tollison said about what he knew about the rivalry growing up in Jackson.
“We had a few people over the summer come in and peak about the rivalry and what it means to, you know, the fans, the people in Missouri. And how they feel about people in Kansas, and it means a lot to people,” Tollison added.
But with all the focus through the summer on learning the history, the focus this week has just been improving from Week 1. Drinkwitz has made sure to move the focus onto just winning this game.
Focusing on the game
None of the rest of the series will matter to the players from 2:30 p.m. Saturday until the final whistle.
“At the end of the day, we just want to make sure that we focus more on us, you know, we let the outside kind of deal with how big it is,” Missouri safety Jalen Catalon said. “And you know, making comments and everything. But at the end of the day, we’re just more focused on us, and just making sure we’re getting better each day. That way, when Saturday comes, whatever opponent it is, you know, … we’re ready to go.”
But once that final whistle blows, the War Drum will either stay here or head west. And Drinkwitz has always had a focus on keeping any trophy possible in house.
“We understand. We know there’s a trophy for it at the end of the game. One of our goals every year is to win our trophy games,” Drinkwitz said. “This is a week that we got a trophy on the line. You have a tangible thing that you’re playing for. In college football, you don’t always have that after a game, sometimes you just got a ‘Attaboy.’ There’s no attaboy after this one. There’s a dadgum War Drum and several other stuff out there. And you win it, you get it. If you don’t, you don’t. And I don’t care who you are, if you’re a competitor, there’s something on the line, I don’t care if you’re playing against a buddy at home in 1-on-1, if there’s a Diet Coke on the line, you want to stinking win, because it’s painful if you don’t.”
