The Missouri Tigers visit the Kansas Jayhawks on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026 at 8 p.m. ET from David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Missouri opened its season with a 54-14 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff to move to 1-0, and Kansas is also 1-0 by way of a 51-6 win over Long Island.
Missouri’s offense carried the opener. Quarterback Austin Simmons threw for 252 yards and four touchdowns without an interception, and the Tigers scored 54 points while allowing 14.
Kansas leaned on both sides of the ball. Quarterback Isaiah Marshall passed for 246 yards and two touchdowns without an interception, running back Yasin Willis added 72 rushing yards and two touchdowns, and the Jayhawks’ defense allowed just 6 points in the win.
The Tigers are 5.5-point favorites over the Jayhawks at DraftKings, with a total of 50.5 and a moneyline of -221 for the Tigers and +178 for the Jayhawks.
Below, we’ll give you all the details you need to know about how to watch this game.
Missouri needed a jolt at quarterback, and the Ole Miss transfer delivered one immediately, completing 17 of 19 passes for 252 yards and four touchdowns before halftime of a 54-14 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The left-hander beat out returning options Matt Zollers and Nick Evers for the job this spring, and he now gets his first true road test against a Kansas defense that just gave up 613 total yards in its own opener. Simmons will lean on a Missouri receiving corps built around Donovan Olugbode in a game the Big 12 moved to a Friday night, prime-time window. Another efficient outing keeps the No. 25 Tigers unbeaten and validates the offseason quarterback overhaul in Columbia.
Kansas is playing its first game at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium against Missouri since 2005, and it’s Marshall’s job to make sure the revived Border Showdown feels like a coronation. The redshirt sophomore won the starting job out of fall camp and answered with 246 yards and two touchdowns through the air plus 49 rushing yards on just seven carries in a 51-6 rout of LIU. That dual-threat element gives offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki another wrinkle against a Missouri front that will be seeing Marshall as a starter for the first time. A repeat performance would give Kansas a signature statement in a game the Big 12 shifted to national primetime.
Fresh off a season-opening connection with Austin Simmons that produced 107 receiving yards and two touchdowns, Olugbode enters as Missouri’s most established target after leading all Tigers freshmen in snaps a year ago with 30 catches for 401 yards. He and new quarterback Simmons have already shown chemistry, and that rapport matters against a Kansas secondary that will be facing a Big 12 opponent’s top receiver for the first time this season. With Cincinnati transfer Caleb Goodie and Ole Miss transfer Cayden Lee also in the mix, Olugbode figures to see plenty of coverage attention. Sustained production from him would keep Missouri’s passing game ahead of the sticks all night.
McMillan barely needed a transition period after arriving from Buffalo, catching six passes for 130 yards and a touchdown in his Jayhawks debut against LIU. The First Team All-MAC selection topped 100 yards receiving in six straight games last season for the Bulls, and he immediately looks like Kansas’s new No. 1 option opposite a Missouri secondary adjusting to a new-look Big 12 slate. His size at 6-foot-1 gives Isaiah Marshall a reliable outlet on early downs and in contested situations. If McMillan keeps producing like he did in week one, Kansas has the vertical threat it needs to make good on its home-field return against the Tigers.
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