If you ask Kansas Jayhawks fans (and really do we care what they think?) the all-time football series between the Tigers and Jayhawks is tied at 55-55-9. Missouri’s official records hold the series at 56-54-9. After this Saturday, Missouri should hold the final bragging rights in football.
Missouri enters Saturday’s game with a 6-5 record, including a 4-4 mark in Big 12 play after defeating Texas Tech 31-27 in Columbia last week. The Tigers will be playing their first neutral site game of the season.
The Tigers lead the conference and rank 11th in the country in rushing offense with 242.18 rushing yards per game, much of which came from sophomore tailback Henry Josey who rushed for 1,168 yards on 145 carries in the first 10 games of the season.
Quarterback James Franklin has rushed for 794 yards and thrown for 2,553 yards, which ranks him 14th in the country with 3,347 yards of total offense. Franklin has gone to wide receiver T.J. Moe (51 catches, 629 yards) and tight end Michael Egnew (46 catches, 467 yards) most often this season.
On defense, the Tigers rank third in the Big 12, allowing just 24.7 points per game. MU has held three of its opponents without a touchdown this season. Linebackers Andrew Wilson (85 tackles, 7.0 TFL) and Luke Lambert (69 tackles, 10.5 TFL) are the team’s leading tacklers. Cornerback E.J. Gaines leads the team with two interceptions, while defensive end Jacquies Smith has a team high five sacks.
Kansas has eight players on its roster from the Show Me State, however none of the native Missourians on the Jayhawk roster hail from Coumbia. The following KU players are from the state of Missouri: Brandon Bourbon (Potosi), Tyler Hill (Lee’s Summit), Richard Johnson (Jefferson City), Dexter McDonald (Kansas City), Darrian Miller (Blue Springs), AJ Steward (St. Louis), Keeston Terry (Blue Springs) and Jordan Webb (Union). Kansas offensive line coach J.B. Grimes spent one year on the staff at Missouri. Grimes was a volunteer assistant coach at MU in 1984. He worked with the offensive line in his one season with the Tigers.
Kansas comes into Saturday’s Border Showdown looking to break a nine-game losing skid. Since starting the season 2-0 under 2nd-year Head Coach Turner Gill, the Jayhawks have dropped their last nine games by an average margin of 29.3 points a contest.
Kansas is coming off a 61-7 loss last Saturday at Texas A&M, but they had a pair of wins barely get away the previous two weeks, as they dropped a 13-10 heartbreaker at Iowa State three weeks ago, followed by a 31-30 overtime home loss to Baylor two weeks ago.
