09/09/2025
It’s Beau Time: Missouri football defeats Kansas
Mizzou’s star in the making. Beau Pribula comes up big in Border War victory.
By: Brady Shanahan X/Twitter:
Missouri Sports Director for KFNS FM
Nearly a decade and a half in its grave, the resurrection of the Kansas-Missouri Border War Rivalry proved exactly why these adversaries need to play each other every single year—deep roots between the neighboring states, dating back to before Kansas gained statehood in 1861, make this rivalry perhaps the most real and gritty feud in all of college sports.
The two schools didn’t face off on the gridiron until 1891; however, the hatred between the schools and states as a whole stems from violent conflicts such as Bleeding Kansas, the Sacking of Osceola and the Pottawotomie Massacre in the years leading up to the Civil War.
The two sides have not forgotten the bloodshed—each faceoff turns the football field into a battlefield. However, in 2012, the oldest rivalry west of the Mississippi came to an end with Missouri’s departure from the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference.
A decade-plus removed from the last encounter, there is no love lost. In a matchup 14 years in the making, both sides left it all out on the field as the No. 25 Missouri Tigers (2-0) claimed victory at Faurot Field in Memorial Stadium, conquering the visiting Kansas Jayhawks (2-1) in a triumph that looks to fuel the Tigers beyond Week 2 of the college football season.
Do you know Beau?
After an entire offseason wrapped up in a quarterback battle, Penn State junior transfer Beau Pribula claimed sole QB1 duties after third-year Missouri quarterback Sam Horn went down with an injury in Week 1 against Central Arkansas.
Despite spending three full seasons in State College, the Pennsylvania native marked his first-ever collegiate game as a full-time starter in Saturday’s contest—an incredible showing it was to prove his belonging as a starting quarterback in the SEC.
Pribula amassed 334 yards and three touchdowns on a 77% completion rate and, most importantly, helped the Tigers to the 42-31 win.
The Jayhawks nearly spoiled Pribula’s breakout performance before it got started. He fumbled away the Tigers’ momentum in the first quarter, coughing up the ball, which led to a Kansas scoop and score, crucial to a 21-point Jayhawk swing. Beau seemed jittery, lacking composure in the pocket as he and the Tigers found themselves in a 21-6 deficit entering the second quarter..
Ironically, composure was Beau’s message to his team throughout the week's practice.
“My main message to the team this week was to bounce back when we face adversity,” Pribula said in the postgame press conference.
After the game, Mizzou head coach Eli Drinkwitz acknowledged how Beau, in true leader fashion, listened to his own words.
“Great leadership on the sidelines,” Drinkwitz said. “Beau talked about this yesterday after practice to our team. We’re going to face some things we haven’t faced before. We’re going to have to respond. Beau did that after the fumble.”
While facing the steep deficit, Pribula settled into the pocket and found his targets, fitting the ball through narrow windows to lead the Tigers’ comeback charge. After tying up the score at 21 points apiece before halftime, Pribula seemed poised to put the game to bed.
The two rivals dueled back and forth in the second half, trading scores, with Kansas holding a late lead in the fourth quarter. With the game on the line, the Missouri offense converted two game-deciding fourth-down conversions on the Tigers’ go-ahead drive.
Pribula dropped back in the pocket on fourth-and-seven from the KU 46-yard line, trailing by three points. With a defender quickly closing in, he fired a strike down the middle to Kevin Coleman Jr for the first down, keeping the Tigers alive.
Coleman, a Mississippi State transfer, finished the day with a game-high 124 receiving yards on 10 catches, including his first touchdown with the Tigers. He spoke on his connection with Pribula.
“Once we got here in January, me and Beau got together and we knew there would be types of moments in big games we have to overcome,” Coleman said.”We’re two hard-working guys, two guys that just want to be perfect all the time. We work for perfection.”
The Tigers ultimately took the final lead of the game with Missouri facing another fourth down on that same drive. Fourth-and-one with under five minutes to play, Pribula found his tight end, Brett Norfleet, in the flat. Norfleet, a Missouri native, took the ball 27 yards for the touchdown.
This marked Norfleet’s second score of the day, both being game-altering plays to help Missouri to the win. He finished the game with seven receptions for 76 yards.
“I feel like he’s done a great job being our QB, and I’m super excited to see where it goes,” Norfleet said.
If this is the type of quarterback performance Mizzou can expect to see every week, the Tigers are in a position to make some noise in 2025.
“There’s a lot to improve on, but in the biggest moments, in the toughest times on fourth down, he was nails,” Drinkwitz said about Pribula.
As of Week 2 of the college football season, Pribula is among the top-performing quarterbacks in the country, with On3 naming Pribula as the top quarterback in the SEC to this point in the season.
Pribula and Mizzou will next be in action at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13, at Memorial Stadium.
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