Another year, another disappointing rivalry performance for the Kansas Jayhawks as Friday night marked a dreadful 38-21 loss at the hands of the archrival Missouri Tigers.
Prior to this matchup, the Jayhawks had done a lot of talking via social media with a viral post on X that grabbed the nation by storm. And while they were able to back it up throughout the first half, entering the break with a 14-14 score, things quickly fell apart when they faced adversity. Leaving KU outscored 24-7 in the final two periods, sparking fingers to be pointed everywhere.
Kansas’ pass defense gave up a stellar 252 yards and three touchdowns to Ole Miss transfer Austin Simmons; this was a result of several poorly covered passes towards the boundary and gaps over the middle.
But to be honest, the Jayhawks’ defense was never supposed to stop Missouri entirely, just give the offense enough of a chance to create their own momentum.
Instead, the Andy Kotelnicki-led attack struggled to consistently pull together scoring drives, resulting in just 255 total yards.
“…And I think our coverage still needs to continue to work on having some things corrected, but it all ties together with pressures and things like that. I thought we played extremely hard. I think our defensive ends continue to play really good football for us, but there were probably some times where I think we got a little tired and wore down,” quoted head coach Lance Leipold following the loss.
“But I still think defensively overall, they gave us a chance to win tonight, and we put their backs to the wall too many times.”
Not even five full minutes into the second half, the Jayhawks started to fall over their own feet. After forcing an efficient three-and-out on defense, quarterback Isaiah Marshall fumbled the ball, leading to a five-play drive that resulted in a Mizzou touchdown. On Kansas’ next possession, Marshall immediately threw an interception, leading to a Missouri touchdown two plays later.
Kansas’ quarterback play needs some work
Kansas’ newly touted QB1 had a lot of stumbles on Friday. The most consistent tripping block of the day came in his several missed passes. Marshall consistently either underthrew or overthrew his wideout, and with that came a 43.3% completion rate, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
Of course, this doesn’t mean it's time to write off Marshall as a quarterback; it is just his second game as a starter, and there were still flashes where he showed why he was a hot prospect in the class of 2024. But in a game like this, where mistakes will quickly get punished, it was abundantly clear that he has work to do.
While Marshall will ultimately get a majority of the blame, Kansas’ running back room had its own problems generating momentum. What was supposed to be the dynamic punch of Dylan Edwards and Yasin Willis instead turned into stalled runs inside and outside, with the pair combining for just 57 yards.
Last season, this was a game where Kansas’ offense couldn’t be stopped in the 42-31 loss, and they looked as if they could keep pace with most teams in the nation. A year later, it's the Jayhawks’ defense that is doing a good enough job to keep KU afloat, but their offense can't get out of its own way.
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