5 Takeaways: Mizzou Takes Down Kansas in Reignited Rivalry

Quarterback Beau Pribula's second showing with the Tigers was just as entertaining as it was smart. There were several flashy, explosive plays, but also plenty moments of sound decision making from the redshirt junior.

It wasn't perfect. He put multiple passes in jeopardy, including one that was nearly intercepted by linebacker Bangally Kamara, but instead bounced off his hands. Pribula also fumbled on a carry in the first quarter that Kansas recovered and returned for a touchdown to go up 14-6.

But besides those errors, Pribula provided sparks when Missouri needed them with both his arm and legs, constantly delivering in key moments. He ended the day completing 30 of his 39 pass attempts for 334 yards and three touchdowns.

Taking control with time of possession:

Things seemed to be headed south for Missouri quickly after Pribula's fumble that turned into a touchdown in the middle of the first quarter. On the next drive, Missouri went three-and-out while Kansas scored on each of its next two offensive drives. Missouri trailed 21-6 entering the second quarter.

But in quarters two and three, Missouri possessed the ball for 24:05 minutes compared to 6:49 for Kansas. The Tigers ran 50 plays in those two quarters compared to 14 for the Jayhawks. Missouri outscored 20-3 in that same timeframe.

The Tigers were able to take control with Pribula's patience, and the offensive line creating more running room for running back Ahmad Hardy than in the first quarter.

Pre-snap distraction proved to be effective for Kansas

As the Jayhawks put on tape in the first two week, the best tool for tbhe Kansas offense was pre-snap motion. The eye candy got the Tigers to bite, creating key openings for Kansas.

On Jalon Daniels' first touchdown of the day, a 15-yard toss pass to tight end DeShawn Hanika over the middle of the end zone, safety Marvin Burks was pulled away from the target point after moving in to defend a fake sweep to wide receiver Cam Pickett.

Later in the first quarter, Kansas used some last second motion to put Missouri defensive back in an unfavorable position, having to defend speedy wide receiver Levi Wentz in man coverage. Carnell was expecting to cover Wentz in the slot, but Pickett moved from the boundary at the last second, putting Wentz in great posiition to burn down the sideline. Carnell was a few steps behind, leading to a 50-yard reception that set up a one-yard rushing touchdonwn from Daniels to put Kansas up 21-6.

On a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter that gave Kansas its first lead since the first half, more distraction was employed. Daniels effectively faked a handoff to running back Leshon Williams, leaving Hanika wide open in the flat.

Coleman's big day

Mississsippi State transfer Kevin Coleman Jr. showed exactly why Missouri has been trying to acquire the wide receiver since he was a high school prospect in St. Louis. He led Missouri with 10 catches for 126 receiving yards and a touchdown.

The receiver showed off the multiple ways he can diversify the Missouri offense, doing everything from catching a simple three-yard touchdown in the flat, to grabbing 32 yards after the catch to put Missouri at the Kansas 2-yard line on the final drive of the first half, making it a 50-yard reception in total to give Missouri another three points before the end of the half.

In the fourth quarter, he caught a pass through tight coverage to convert a fourth-and-7 for Missouri.

Special teams

True freshman Robert Meyer saw his first start as Missouri’s kicker after starter Blake Craig suffered a torn ACL last week in Missouri’s season opener. In his debut, Meyer went three of four on extra points, while also making field-goal kicks from 20 and 25. His lone miss was a blocked extra point after Missouri’s first touchdown, where the interior of Missouri’s protection unit collapsed.

The bigger question for Meyer was how much Missouri would trust him. If there would be more fourth-down or two-point conversion attempts than usual.

Going into the game, Drinkwitz held faith in Meyer until he was given reason not to.

“Robbie can kick,” Drinkwitz said. “'I’m not going into it thinking he's not going to be able to do something that I know he can do that he’s shown in practice. Now do we have to adjust after we see things, we'll figure that out.”

But, Missouri attempted two fourth-down conversions in situations they would’ve instead likely rolled out Craig had he been available. One was on a fourth-and-10 at the Kansas 31-yard line. The other was a fourth-and-4 from the Kansas 35.

Missouri converted the first, but ultimately were stopped later in the drive, having to settle for a field goal anyways. The second fourth-down attempt failed to convert.

There’s only so many situations where the Tigers will be able to avoid not using a kicker. But Meyer might still have to earn that trust. In Saturday's game, he didn't seem to do anything to take away trust.