Mizzou Heads to kansas for Border War Showdown

I'm going to keep this blog short and sweet.

There are certain games on the schedule where you can convince yourself to be rational. You can talk matchups, strengths, weaknesses, what it means for the rest of the season and all that other analytical stuff.

The Border War is NOT one of those games. And it goes down again on Friday night.

I don't care that these schools aren't in the same conference anymore. I don't care that the rivalry disappeared from the football schedule for several years. And I sure as hell don't care if someone wants to tell me this game doesn't mean as much as an SEC game.

It's kansas. I want to beat their ass.

Mizzou finally got the Border War back last season and it couldn't have started much worse in Columbia. The Tigers fell behind 21-6 in the first quarter before battling all the way back and eventually winning 42-31. Jamal Roberts put the finishing touches on it with a 63-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter, and for the first time since 2011, Mizzou fans got to celebrate a football win over kansas.

This year, the Tigers travel to enemy territory where I will be boots on the ground in lawrence (not spending a dime in that state or city). Mizzou hasn't won at David Booth since 2001 and haven't played there since 2005.

Mizzou enters the game ranked No. 23 in the country. Mizzou is also currently around a 5.5-point favorite, but throw that shit out the window as far as I'm concerned. Rivalry games get weird, and we saw exactly that last season when kansas punched Mizzou directly in the mouth before the Tigers finally woke up.

Mizzou needs to walk into lawrence and play like the better football team from the opening kick. Austin Simmons looked good in the opener, and his connection with Donovan Olugbode is already something to watch after Olugbode caught eight passes and scored twice along with connecting on long touchdown pass to former Ole Miss standout Cayden Lee. Getting Cayden Green back at left tackle will also be a huge boost after he missed the opener.

Mizzou's offenisve line will need to look better, especially in run blocking. We know what Roberts can do when he has space, we just need to make sure he has it until Ahmad Hardy can get back to the lineup.

On the other side, kansas has some weapons. Quarterback Isaiah Marshall threw for 246 yards and two touchdowns in his first significant action, and he can make things happen with his legs. Dylan Edwards can cause some problems too, so this isn't a game where Mizzou can show up expecting the jersey to win it for them.

Mizzou's pass rush will need to do a better job of staying disciplined and in their lanes. Finish the play and don't do anything stupid after the whistle.

But I also don't need to spend 1,500 words pretending I'm some unbiased college football analyst here.

I'm a Mizzou fan.

I fucking hate kansas.

FIND A WAY TO WIN THE GAME.

If you want to read more about the history between the two states, check out my blog I wrote last year here. Spoiler alert, there was a lot of blood shed.