So you can’t wait to take a screwdriver to some Nebraska fan’s license plate today and replace it with a Colorado one, huh? Don’t think you’re being clever. Listen, we don’t know what a real rivalry is around here. I thought I did. That is, until I started to look into this little Missouri-Kansas tiff.
Take a national fan poll and the rivalry probably won’t rank among the top five. “The Border War” should be. It goes way beyond just a shared border. It goes way beyond their first game in 1891, making it the oldest rivalry west of the Mississippi. It goes beyond Saturday’s blockbuster in Kansas City, Mo., which is merely the biggest game in the 116-year series. It’s the only rivalry that goes back to the Civil War. It’s the only rivalry in which fans of the 21st century remember the blood spilled in the 19th century and still want more from the other side.
“I hate to hear it’s a ‘showdown’ or a ‘border showdown,’ ” said Don Fambrough, 85, a head coach at Kansas and former Jayhawk player. “Hell, it’s war! Anybody who played in that game knows it’s a war.”
Literally, the Kansas-Missouri clash was a war. During the Civil War, Kansas was an anti-slavery stronghold and Lawrence was the base for the Jayhawkers, a vicious Union militia. The Jayhawk today is the dumbest bird mascot in sports, but back then they were pretty good looters. And Missouri was their target.
On Aug. 21, 1863, a Confederate guerrilla named William Quantrill, furious over a collapsed prison that killed numerous female relatives of his guerillas, raided Lawrence. His band of 450 guerrillas, known as Quantrill’s Raiders, killed approximately 200 people, raped dozens of women and burned Lawrence to the ground.
Whether that action prompted Missouri coach Don Faurot to buy every set of long underwear in Columbia, Mo., on a 9-degree day in 1950 so Kansans couldn’t buy any, no one really knows. Determined to play on an even field that year — even if he had to damage Missouri’s to do it — Kansas coach J.V. Sikes told his bus driver to crash the team bus through the locked stadium fence and park it behind his bench so players could stay warm.
It did no good. Kansas spent the entire game fumbling and freezing and lost, 20-6.
“Maybe Quantrill’s Raiders had a big influence,” said John Kadlec, a Missouri assistant coach from 1952-77 and former Tiger lineman. “Over here we’ve forgotten about it. Maybe the reason is because we were the perpetrators. They haven’t forgotten about it.”
One of Kansas’ biggest wins came in 1960. Missouri started with a 9-0 record and was ranked No. 1 with 11th-ranked Kansas remaining. Kansas won, 23-7, knocking Missouri to fourth at a time when the final poll came out before the bowl games. Alas, the top three teams lost their bowls. Obviously, history denied Missouri its one national title. Missourians blame Kansans.
Maybe that explains Dan Devine. One year, the legendary Missouri coach was beating Kansas like an old carpet. Late in the game, humiliated Kansas coach Pepper Rogers looked over to Devine. It was 1969, and Rogers flashed him the peace sign. Devine responded with, um, half a peace sign. Missouri won, 69-21.
Asked if he still hates Missouri, Fambrough barked, “Absolutely! With a passion!”
Kadlec’s worst loss came in 1977. Missouri was 4-6 and Kansas was 2-7-1 and in that stretch in the 1970s and ’80s when it had four winning seasons in 22 years. Kansas led 24-22 late in the game. Missouri had the ball on the Kansas 2, but a Tiger running back ran the wrong way and fumbled. Kansas recovered and won.
“The reason I say that it was the worst game: After the game (Al) Onofrio and our staff got fired,” Kadlec said.
Kadlec didn’t have to wait long for redemption. Kansas coach Bud Moore got whacked the next year. It behooves the coaches in this rivalry to win. Kansas has had 15 coaches since 1933. Eleven left the school the year they lost to Missouri. Four of Missouri’s last five left after losing to Kansas.
Jobs aren’t on the line Saturday. Mark Mangino has Kansas (11-0) ranked second for the first time, and Gary Pinkel has third-ranked Missouri (10-1) seeking its first outright conference title since 1960. The winner advances to the Big 12 Championship, and a win there likely puts it in the BCS Championship.
This surreal scenario brings Fambrough back to his days in the Air Force during World War II. His commanding officer, Ray Evans, was an All-American at Kansas and in 1943 tried convincing Fambrough to play at Kansas after their stints ended. Evans did it by handing Fambrough a book about Quantrill’s Raiders.
“I read the book about Quantrill and I got so upset,” Fambrough said. “I told him, ‘I will follow you to Germany. I will follow you to Japan. I will not go with you to Missouri.’ He said, ‘Don’t worry. We’ll just go over there, kick their (butt) and come back.’
“And that’s what we plan on doing this year.”
