Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz blasted Kansas for its Civil War–themed hype video ahead of Friday’s “Border War” college football rivalry game.
“I was disappointed in the rivalry—the turn that it took today,” Drinkwitz said after the Tigers beat the Jayhawks 38–21 in Lawrence. “I thought that was uncalled for.”
Kansas released a controversial social media video on Thursday ahead of hosting Missouri for the first time since 2005.
“This rivalry is different, because it’s built on something much deeper than just school pride,” narrator and former Kansas football star Gilbert Brown said. “It’s fueled by hatred, passed down through generations. Our roots reach back to the Civil War, when blood was spilt over what you believed in and which side you stood on. There are heroes and villains, only allegiance decides their legacy. There’s right and wrong. There’s Kansas and Missouri.” The video has more than 35 million views on X/Twitter as of Saturday morning.
“This is about two teams playing football,” Drinkwitz said. “Especially on 9/11, when we need more unity now than ever before, to be putting some stuff on your screen—celebrating—everybody’s got complicated pasts, and to make that an icon was bizarre to me. So, I’m just glad that this whole right-versus-wrong bullcrap that was started just got settled on a football field.”
Missouri, leading by 10 points late in the game, scored a final touchdown just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter. “I was embarrassed for them, to be honest,” Drinkwitz said. “And that’s why I tried to embarrass them at the end. … We left Kansas bleeding again.”
Drinkwitz also slammed Kansas on X overnight, reposting a school Tweet that said “There’s right and wrong. There’s Kansas and Missouri,” and writing himself: “Man! Yall are weird….. Winners WIN!!! I know that’s RIGHT!!!!!”
Kansas coach Lance Leipold, when asked about the late-game touchdown, said: “If he wants to keep trying to score, that’s his prerogative, it’s ours to try to stop them.” Leipold said the Kansas fans created an “awesome atmosphere” and that the schools have a “good rivalry,” while not specifically addressing the hype video. “I think this is one of the things that help make college football what it is, and it’s a special game,” Leipold said.
Missouri hosted Kansas last season in what was the first meeting of the schools since 2011—the year before Missouri left the Big 12 and joined the SEC. From 2007 to 2011, the rivalry game was played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Missouri leads the series all-time 58–55–9. The teams aren’t scheduled to meet again until 2031.
