Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - SHOWDOWN: Border War RETURNS as Kansas & Missouri CLASH in EPIC Rivalry | Can Jayhawks UPSET Tigers?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The border war is back, and we're going to be breaking it down. A little bit of an early preview, crossover edition of Locked on Jayhawks and Locked on Mizzou on today's episode. You are locked on college crossovers, part of the Locked on podcast network. Your team every day. What's going on? Derek Johnson here at D Johnson Radio on Twitter, John Miller. He runs Locked on Mizzou. And we've got a crossover episode for you today,

Starting point is 00:00:36 whether you're listening through Locked on Jayhawks or Locked on Mizzu. Thanks for joining us. And yeah, we're going to be breaking down the game. It's a pretty big one. I might have heard of it. The Border War, Border Showdown, I guess they're officially calling it. No, it's the war. Yeah, it's got to be, right?

Starting point is 00:00:48 Right. Yeah, yeah. So at least we can both agree on that. We'll see how much else green we do throughout the episode. We've got our top storylines. We've got our big player performances, players to watch. and how does Missouri win? How does Kansas pull off this upset on the road?

Starting point is 00:01:02 We'll get into all that on today's episode. And today's episode of the show is brought to you by Monarch Money. Maybe use Monarch to help you save money to afford tickets to this game. You can take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code locked on college at Monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. So, John, I appreciate you hopping on here. Obviously, this is a fun week of the season. It doesn't feel right being in September, I guess.

Starting point is 00:01:27 This game is not in like November or something like that. But obviously this is a big one. And anytime you have a rivalry game, like this to me is what college sports is all about. It is about the rivalries. And I think you could argue this is one of the most undersold, underappreciated from a national perspective of rivalries in the country. So what to you are some of the biggest, I don't know, storylines and things you're excited for in this game? Well, to me, just from Missouri side, you know, there's been some kind of breaking news here, injury-wise. he's place kicker is out for the season, Blake Craig. So Eli Drinkwood's a guy who typically

Starting point is 00:02:02 doesn't go forward on fourth down a lot. Are we going to see more aggression against Kansas, especially in a big spot, Bo Perbula, a guy who can run the ball, looks like a Maude Hardy is a heck of a running back too. I think it kind of fits what Missouri likes to do. And overall, my biggest storyline is on paper, I think most people would agree Missouri has more talent. but man, I, you know, I hate to say this. It hurts me deep in my soul to give you any credit. But really, Lance Leopold can coach and Jalen Daniels can play some football too. And really, to correct me if I'm wrong, Derek, I think this early matchup kind of favors Kansas a tiny bit from a Daniels perspective because, well, he has been banged up sometimes.

Starting point is 00:02:45 Yeah, I mean, the big question is, is to me kind of going to be how do both defenses stop the quarterback run? because we've seen when Jalen really gets it going and when Kansas is in bigger moments, bigger games, which for them, I mean, this is as big as it comes this season, right? You're going to be using that option in Jalen's legs a little more. And then in the games or maybe it's a little less. Like last week, he only has three carries because you don't want to use those carries up for a guy who has had some injury stuff in the past. And then on the flip side, Bill Pribula, I mean, is obviously a very good runner.

Starting point is 00:03:15 KU in the past has struggled defending the quarterback run. It's a new defensive coordinator this year. So I don't entirely know how that. that's going to go this go around, that's going to be like a huge part of this. And, you know, you mentioned the kicker being injured. If it's close game, that could factor in. KU's linebackers are all beat up, like Bengali Kamara being out right now. Joseph Sip is already out.

Starting point is 00:03:36 Like, that could hurt you against the run. It certainly is interesting that we're only in, I guess, week two of the season, third game for KU, second game for Missouri. And there's already injury stuff that's kind of popping up to this point in time. And I think that's what, you know, going back to the idea that this game's in September, I'm going to be very interested to see the repercussions of a game like this for the following weeks. Now, Kansas is a buy-after. So maybe that helps them a little bit there.

Starting point is 00:04:00 But like, do you expend so much physical and emotional energy, both teams on this game, that it hurts you for a week or two after? Possibly. And, you know, I think the schedule lands pretty well for Missouri in that case, too. Missouri doesn't have a buy, but they do have Louisiana before playing South Carolina in week four. some of your listeners may have noticed that well louisiana lost to rice 14 to 12 in week one so that that that not looking like quite maybe is a tricky you know trap game upset as maybe it did early in the season i would say yeah and so when you talk about like what does this

Starting point is 00:04:37 game mean for the season obviously it's no longer a conference game anymore so from that standpoint you know either team can lose this game and theoretically go play for a conference championship afterwards. So maybe that gets rid of some of it. But again, if this is the whole point of college sports, why it was started, these regional rivalries. And obviously, this being the first time they've played in almost 15 years, it almost does mean everything while not meaning a lot else at the same point in time. So what to you does this game mean in terms of the season for Missouri? Well, just in terms of how the season is going to play out, I think Missouri has, just as it did last season, just certainly in 2023, they had a great season, too.

Starting point is 00:05:20 But Missouri has playoff aspirations, whether they say that out loud or not. I think 10 and 2 is the goal. I think you lose to Kansas in week two, regardless of whether that's a conference game or not. I think that really puts you behind the eight ball. And somewhat amusingly and naively this week, Bo Perbula said, well, gee, I thought this was just a sports rivalry. but wow it turns out there's a lot of hatred going on here i just thought that was funny just to hear his perspective on it but but seriously though i do think it matters a lot again it's been 14 years almost 15 years who takes this rivalry the most seriously who is gung ho for this thing

Starting point is 00:06:01 because in the past there's been upsets on both sides for decades because hey we'd love to just ruin kansas's season and vice versa sometimes is there going to be that level of hatred in the stands, absolutely. And on the television sets for all the viewers, no question. On the field, that's what I'm really curious to see. Yeah, you almost wonder if like the crowd is going to be the ones that ignite it in a real. And that helps Missouri too. I mean, the crowd's going to be electric. There's no doubt about it. And that alone should should juice the Missouri sideline, but really it should juice the Kansas sideline too. They're, they have beating hearts and bloods pumping through their chest too. Yeah. No, it's going to be great too that we get these,

Starting point is 00:06:42 know back home and away as opposed to there was something about it being at arrowhead but i don't know something about it being on campus makes it nice much better much better listen the armageddon game that was incredible a sellout to the 2008 game was was obviously not as great for me but still well attended other than that man the attendance really dropped in those things to me keep it on campus yeah no it definitely adds to the intrigue and the fun and everything well i i think this is really important because you know from the kansas perspective like this game almost becomes not just about Kansas. I mean, I don't think KU fans really care, like, oh, we have to hold the water for the Big 12. But from a Big 12 perspective, the rest of the conference is like, hey, we need this more so than the SE. Like, if Missouri loses to Kansas, the is going to be just fine. You know, the SEC's PR is going to be just okay. But from the Big 12 perspective, it would do them a lot of wonders to nab one on the road against an SEC team. And so, you know, I don't know who ends up winning the Big 12 at the end of the day. TCU, you look good. You. You. Utah look pretty good in Week Zero. I think if Kansas wins this game, you're going to start

Starting point is 00:07:46 talking yourself into, at least I am, that Kansas can win the Big 12th. They can at least compete to win the conference because by, you mentioned from a talent perspective, I mean, from a talent perspective, we'll see if Missouri ends up being as good as like, say, Utah or TCU, but from a talent perspective, certainly they're just as good, if not better than some of those schools. So like, you can make the argument, this is the most talented team that Kansas is going to play this season. And from that perspective, if you can beat them on the road, why can you? can't you compete for a big 12 title in addition to what it would do for the big 12 in terms of just that i don't know public perception especially after kind of an up and down week one yeah i agree

Starting point is 00:08:21 with all of that and i as much as i hate to even imagine the scenario where missouri loses of course yeah if if kansas wins this game of course they're going to be right in there in the big 12 i think the big 12 is i mean give me seven or eight teams i could see them winning the league at this point and and sort of to that idea i think no matter who loses this game it's going to feel like to the fans your season is over, but maybe it is, maybe it isn't because that's college football. A lot can change as the season goes along and we may look back and say, wow, actually those were two top 20 teams or something like that. Who the heck knows? In fact, right now the projections aren't too far off from that. I saw S&P Plus has Missouri 16th,

Starting point is 00:09:04 Kansas 25. So again, on paper, that's not a horrific loss either way. The problem is when it's Kansas and Missouri. It's going to hurt bad for somebody. Yeah, it really is. That's for sure. I want to get in just a fun of it like you said. It is. The fun and the defeat either way. I want to get some players that are going to have a big impact on the result of this one and how either team comes out on top. We'll get to that next. This is locked on Jayhawks and locked on Missou crossover. And today's episode of the show is brought to you by Mazda. Maybe you're need of a car to go from Lawrence to Columbia and boom, get yourself a Mazda. They craft cars for those who choose. to do more than simply move.

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Starting point is 00:10:24 So Kansas, Missouri, I think a lot of really intriguing players. We touched on a few, Jalen Daniels, Boe Pribula, Maude Hardy at the start of this. I want to frame this like this. Who's a player that you think on Missouri is going to have the biggest impact? If you want to pick an offensive and a defensive guy, that's fine on the results in either direction for Missouri on Saturday. Well, I think somebody Kansas fans might be familiar with from his big 12 days at West Virginia. Josiah Trotter is a guy I'm expecting to be all over the field.

Starting point is 00:10:58 And I watch, correct me if I'm wrong, I find a lot of similarities actually between Kansas and Missouri's offense and that they do a lot of pre-snap motion. Also, I've found a lot of maybe Gus Buh similarities, some Gus Malzzi. on influence with what Lance Leopold tries to do with Jalen Daniels. And what I mean there is a lot of even more misdirection, I would say. I mean, faking speed options and then running it back the other way. The point here is that you need a guy like Trotter to be really, really disciplined in the middle of that defense, get everybody on the same page when they're shifting around and all that stuff.

Starting point is 00:11:34 I think he's a guy who's going to have 10 plus tackles in the game. And, well, hopefully he's the type of player who can contain Daniels and keep him in the pocket a little bit, too. That's interesting. And I'm looking right now at what Trotter did in the game last year against West Virginia. He had 13 tackles was zero of his tackles. So that's a pretty good performance. Now, KU did target him in the receiving game.

Starting point is 00:11:55 He was targeted three times, gave up 38 yards on three catches. So it seems like he had a really good run defense game, maybe struggled a bit more in passing. So that could be very interesting if KU could exploit that in the same way on that end. I would say the guy to watch for KU. I mean, it's obvious that it's always the quarterback with Jalen Daniel, so I'm just not going to pick that one. Beyond that, I'm going to actually go with the other, you took a West Virginia linebacker. I'm going to take a West Virginia linebacker, Trey Lathen, who came over to Kansas.

Starting point is 00:12:23 Trotter leaves West Virginia for Missou. Lathen leaves West Virginia for Kansas. And Lathen has had a solid start to this season, but now he's being asked to basically be like that. I mean, with the Bengali Kamara injury, who was, you know, expected to be your top linebacker this. year. He misses the second game and could be out a few weeks. Then you get in a situation where Joseph Sip, who was an All-Mack linebacker last season, he comes in and through Springball, it seemed kind of like Sip was ahead of Lathen on the Deptard. Now, it sounded like Lathen was making positive moves in fall camp. Who knows what would have happened had Sip stayed healthy, but that

Starting point is 00:12:58 allowed him to, you know, fully take down the starting spot. And he's been really solid for Kansas so far. But this is another level. Missouri, it just feels like every year now under Eli drink wits like it doesn't matter who the running back is it whether two guys or one guy like it's going to be really productive and then obviously there has been a lot of talent there and amod hardy you know certainly had an unbelievable freshman season at u.o monroe so i i think tray layfin is the guy that i'm kind of looking at is like hey you're going to have to at least slow down their running game a little bit here and when all these other linebackers are injured like you need to be the constant right because the other guys that are coming in for you like they're going to have

Starting point is 00:13:37 up and ups and downs. John John Kamara is a freak athlete. He's going to have some flash plays. He's also a retrofreshman. He's probably going to have a few mistakes. Trey Lathen needs to be the constant for KU. Now on the flip side of things, is there a player on Kansas from your perspective that you feel like could be the game wrecker, so to speak, from the Missouri side? You know, I don't know that I know the Kansas roster well enough, quite honestly, to make that. I've been focused really on the quarterback, Jalen Daniels. Also, I've been really focused on the linebacker core and i feel like before kansas the lack thereof a little bit i feel like we've broken that down well let me rephrase this i was going to say you could throw one at me

Starting point is 00:14:17 yeah yeah is there is there a positional i don't know like weakness or just a player on the missouri side that maybe you're worried about being kind of the weak link well that there that's see that that that frames it a little better for for my tiny brain anyway let's put it that way so thank you very much for that but i would say who are kansas is really good pass rushers, and do they have any? Because as we discussed there, as you astutely brought up, in my opinion, Eli Drinkwitz can design a running game. And I think that'll be the case again this season. The pass protection is a question mark. It really is. Missouri laid in camp kicked their All-American left guard, Caden Green, out to left tackle. The results were mixed in week one.

Starting point is 00:15:01 That was about the only thing to complain about in week one. But still, is Kansas capable of of taking advantage of that, of getting some unpredictable type of pressures. You tell me, Derek, what kind of pass rush, especially on the edge does Kansas have? So Dean Miller was All Big 12th second team last year. He missed the first game this year, came back for the FCS game. He had six sacks, nine TFLs last year. So he's a solid pass rusher, more of a speed rusher. So if you're good handling speed, he's not as much of a power guy.

Starting point is 00:15:33 So it'll just kind of depend how you're doing there. And then the other guy on the other end, it's kind of a rotation. of two guys. You got Justice Finkley. He was at Texas for three years. He was second string at Texas and then comes to KU. He becomes a captain on this team. Really strong guy. His backup is Alex Bray, who was kind of a rotational part-time starter, first second string for Illinois in a different front last year. So they kind of rotate those two guys. So it's a solid pass rush. KU's had good pass rush numbers through the first two games. But I mean, you're playing Fresno State and you're playing Wagner. It's obviously much different.

Starting point is 00:16:07 in terms of the bodies you're going to be going up against than the Missouri game. So there's been enough there to give me hope. The KU defensive tackles are the position group that I think people had the most faith in on the KU defense coming into the season. So, you know, it's a group that I feel good about, but I don't know that they have like two years ago when you had Austin Booker, three years ago when you had Lonnie Phelps. Like they don't have that like, I don't necessarily think all big 12 first team type of pass rusher who's going to get you 10 sacks. Maybe Dean Miller, you know, takes that next step this season. but that's kind of where I'm at with that.

Starting point is 00:16:37 So I don't know if that's helpful for Missouri in some way. I mean, maybe it is. But I do think there also is going to be an emphasis by D.K. McDonald, he likes to mix things up a lot more than the previous D.C. did, right? There's going to be a lot more blitzes of, you know, everybody on the D line is standing up and it's who's coming. So it doesn't just become about can somebody win one-on-one. It also becomes about how is the offensive line reading what's going? coming at them. Sure, absolutely. Now, now I do think for me, from the Missouri side, like,

Starting point is 00:17:12 it's one of two guys that scares me that either amod Hardy, again, I mean, he has 10 yards per carry in the first game, over 1,300 yards at ULM a season ago. And that would scare me that, I guess in the back of my mind is that Arkansas Liberty Bowl game, I know it's so long ago and like there's so many different players and KU is more beefed up on the line than then, than three years ago. but Arkansas was able to road grade KU with their bigger potties and the SEC size. And that scares me a little bit there. The other side is, I guess it's what, two transfers in from Georgia on the defensive line in addition to already some returning starters there.

Starting point is 00:17:47 Like, that scares me a little because the KU offense line was really good against Wagner, but it was Wagner. And in the week before against Fresno, you know, overall was a good game. But Jalen Daniels took a lot of shots. He did. Yeah, I watched that game too. And he was maybe having to run around a little more. I think than Lance Leopold would have liked.

Starting point is 00:18:05 Definitely was taking a surprising amount of shots. But, you know, there was a game where you started off. K.E. was a 13-point favorite. You can't exactly just assume a victory. But, you know, watching that game, I have to say, overall, I was fairly impressed with the Jayhawks. You know, they controlled the game. And certainly the defense made E.J. Warner's life,

Starting point is 00:18:23 a life difficult in that one. Yep. Okay, I want to finish up here. How does Missouri win this game? How does Kansas win this game? We'll get to that next with our locked on Jayhawks, Locked on Mizzu crossover. And this episode of the show is brought to you by Fandul's

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Starting point is 00:19:00 regardless, it's coming at some point. I guess just make your way over to Kansas City on the Kansas side and then you'll be able to get it somewhere. But you can get Missouri. They're about a touchdown favor right now, officially over a Fanduel going off at minus six and a half. You can get Kansas plus six and a half. You can get Kansas on the money line for the upset plus 184. The over under is 50 and a half. So are you ready to play?

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Starting point is 00:20:33 Don't forget you can check out Locked on College Football, too, for your second, listen every day. He's John Miller and I am Derek Johnson. So I guess this boils down to this. Missouri wins if what happens. I think of Missouri controls the line of scrimmage, especially in the passing game. If the Tigers can keep Bo Perbula upright, I just don't know if the Jayhawks are going to be able to score enough points. Now, if they do make Bo Perbula's life a little bit difficult, if they can bottle up the Missouri running game, just to a reasonable expectation level, then yeah, we've probably got a nail biter on our hands. But I really think if Missouri, if they dominate offensively, if that offensive line can win the battle, I just think it's going to be really tough for Kansas to get it done.

Starting point is 00:21:19 Do you have a lean on any of those, Missouri minus six and a half or over under 50 and a half? You know, I guess I would, honestly, I would probably lean more toward the under early in the season here. I just think that especially Missouri likes to control the ball, regardless of how good their offense is. Eli Drinkwitz has never been a Josh Hypo type of offense where he's snapping it with 25 seconds left on the play clock. So to me, I think there's been nationally, by the way, scoring was kind of down in week one. I think the trend is toward the unders right now. I'm under kind of better anyway, even though it's the boring bet. That's kind of the point, though.

Starting point is 00:21:59 The fans like to bet the over. So guess what? I like to go the other way. Yeah. No, it's usually the smart bet. I actually do lean the under as well from a standpoint. Okay, rivalry game, like teams are going to be playing hard. Maybe sometimes you're a little juiced up and you overthrow that pass here or there.

Starting point is 00:22:15 I do think the Missouri defense is one of the best in the country. I do have questions about, you know, how are the offensive lines going to handle things at both ends? And, yeah, I could see this being, you know, know, 20 to 17 or something like that, where it does. Sure. For me, Kansas wins the game if, I mean, for one, Jalen Daniels have to have a top tier game. Like, this has to be one of the best games of Jalen Daniels career.

Starting point is 00:22:36 And it doesn't just cut, like, that doesn't necessarily mean statistically, right? He could have 220 yards passing, 60 yards rushing, two touchdowns, no picks. It's more so the, yes, he's got to avoid the interceptions, like, can't have that in a road game, raucous environment against a good defense, especially if it is going to be a lower scoring game, got to take advantage of those possessions, but it really is with the legs and scrambling, because if Missouri's D-line is at least semi-regularly winning against one or two of the KU offensive linemen, he's going to have to make plays with his feet, not just to actually pick up yardage, but just to be able to scramble and get throws off. And so that's where I think

Starting point is 00:23:13 he has to have one of his best games that he's had in a KU uniform. Then, yeah, I think the other one is just slow down the running game of Missouri. It goes twofold. It goes with Amad Hardy. Can you slow him down can you avoid giving up a game where you know he has six yards per carry seven yards per carry can you have a game where you know even if he's solid it's it's four four and a half yards per carry if you're k you the typical number for um you know with lance light pulled in in their era and i forget the exact number at this point now but they're winning like one every three or four games when they're giving up more than four and a half yards per carry in the lance lightpled era versus the flip side is they're winning you know two out of every three or

Starting point is 00:23:49 something like that so um can you do that can you slow down the run again and then the other prong of that, I mentioned two-sided, is the quarterback run game with Missouri, the previous defensive coordinator, their regime really struggled stopping, scrambling quarterbacks. They had some big games against them last year. For instance, Matthew Sluka had over 100 yards rushing. Avery Johnson had nearly 70 yards rushing. Sam Levitt had like 70 yards rushing. I mean, there were some big games against them.

Starting point is 00:24:17 And Bo Pribula is a very fast runner. We saw it on that like 30-yard run he had against Central Arkansas. That was the reason he would come in for Penn State. And so from that perspective, again, you're going to give up something. Like Amad Hardy and Bo Parabular are good enough where they're going to put up something. But can you slow them down as opposed to them just going off? I think those are the keys for me for KU pulling the upset here. Yeah, I think it'll be really interesting with that whole thought in mind there.

Starting point is 00:24:45 How does Kansas approach this game defensively? Do they try to dare Missouri to throw the ball over the top? Do they focus on stopping Ahmaud Hardy and Bo Perbula in the run? I think I might early, really, just to see how nervous the relatively inexperienced Perbula might be in the ball game. I think that's probably how I would play it. Will that work or not? I don't know.

Starting point is 00:25:07 But again, I'm talking about trends nationally. It seems like the trend nationally is more like the trend of the NFL the last couple years. I don't know if you're a Kansas City Chiefs fan, Derek, but I'm sure a lot of your listeners are. all the talk about Mahomes, of course, as well, everybody's playing too high safeties, just keeping everything in front of them, giving up the five-day, eight-yard gains. Seems like that's kind of been the trend in college football here early.

Starting point is 00:25:33 Does Kansas do that? If so, again, bet that under for sure if you think there's any chance of that. There we go. All right. Well, John, I appreciate the time, man, and should be a fun week. Should be a fun weekend for us or a very sad weekend for one of us and a fun weekend for the other one of us out where can everybody check out all your stuff well locked on mazoo youtube and anywhere you listen to podcasts of course and uh everywhere on social media at locked

Starting point is 00:25:58 on mazoo miz there we go and i'm derrick johnson locked on j hawks same areas you can find all those as well have a great rest of your day thanks again to john thank you to you for listening and uh it's almost game time we got the border war it's officially back after almost 15 years thanks for joining us

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - SHOWDOWN: Border War RETURNS as Kansas & Missouri CLASH in EPIC Rivalry | Can Jayhawks UPSET Tigers?

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