3 Reasons for Optimism After Kansas Football’s Loss to Missouri

The Border Showdown was an exciting, back-and-forth battle, but Missouri ultimately prevailed, completing the program’s biggest comeback win in nearly a decade. 

The loss left Kansas fans disheartened, and rightfully so, as the Jayhawks had multiple chances to pull away. Questionable and conservative play-calling let the Tigers hang around for too long.

While the defeat will sting for some time, the game also offered some positives that should encourage the Jayhawk faithful.

3. Jalon Daniels, While Not Perfect, Was Encouraging

Jalon Daniels was far from perfect Saturday, completing just 60% of his passes and missing a few throws he should have made. 

Even in the first quarter when the Jayhawks’ offense was rolling, he overthrew a few balls that his receivers managed to haul in. But to his defense, he wasn’t exactly working with much.

Kansas’ offense rushed for an abysmal three yards on 19 carries, with Daniels leading the team in yards. Daniel Hishaw Jr. and Leshon Williams were completely ineffective, and the offensive line couldn’t hold Missouri’s front four in run blocking.

When the Jayhawks trailed 28-24, Daniels marched down the field and made several big throws on a go-ahead touchdown drive. 

It wasn’t his fault the defense failed to get two fourth-down stops on the following possession. That would have given him the ball back with a chance to ice the game. 

Instead, he was forced to orchestrate another go-ahead drive, one that would have reached near midfield had Emmanuel Henderson Jr. not dropped an easy ball on third down.

As imperfect as Daniels was, he played better than he has in recent years in big rivalry games.

2. Defense Showed Its Playmaking Abilities

We’re hardly going to give the defense much credit after allowing nearly 600 yards of total offense to the Tigers. 

Still, the unit deserves some slack considering it was on the field for more than 40 minutes and was the main reason KU stayed in the game early. 

It took a lot of heart for the defense to respond the way it did after Missouri’s opening drive when the Tigers looked utterly unstoppable. Blake Herold forced Beau Pribula’s first lost fumble of his career, and Austin Alexander ran it back for six to put the Jayhawks up 14-6.

KU also forced a fumble from Ahmad Hardy and nearly recovered it before a Missouri lineman fell on the ball. The defense’s biggest problem was getting stops on third and fourth down, which ultimately told the story of the game.

Although plenty of improvements need to be made, the defense was gassed by the second half and showed flashes of its playmaking ability. The issue was that those plays didn’t come on timely downs.

1. Mizzou Might Be The Best Opponent on the Schedule

The cliché that SEC athletes are bigger, faster, and stronger might be true. Putting coaching decisions and play-calling aside, Missouri clearly had the more talented roster in this contest, and it showed in the little aspects of the game. 

There won’t be many defensive lines Kansas faces that can hold it to three rushing yards, even if the ground attack takes a hit with the departure of Devin Neal.

Ideally, the Jayhawks get their run game going sooner rather than later to open up more opportunities for the offense. 

Next time out, KU faces a West Virginia squad that just lost to Ohio. The toughest remaining games on the schedule are at Texas Tech and Iowa State, and neither may be better than Missouri.

This loss doesn’t affect KU’s Big 12 title hopes and still keeps the Jayhawks in the race for postseason games. Again, we’re looking at the bright side here. 

As heartbreaking as the defeat was, fans should remain confident in the Jayhawks unless they start dropping games against inferior opponents in league play.