Kansas coach Lance Leipold said he was at church with his wife on Sunday when a Jayhawks fan stopped him and told him to "kick their butt."
The "butt" in question belonging to Missouri football.
"But (they) didn't say 'butt,'" Leipold clarified. "And it was in church. I didn't really think it was appropriate."
No ground is too hallowed during Border War week.
Mizzou and Kansas are set to face off for the first time in 14 years when the Border War series resumes Saturday in Columbia. The Tigers opened their year with a 61-6 win over Central Arkansas last Thursday, and KU will arrive in town 2-0 with wins over Fresno State and Wagner.
Leipold, who is in his fifth season coaching the Jayhawks, met with local reporters Monday in Lawrence to preview his team's trip to Columbia. His full press conference is available to watch on the Topeka Capital-Journal website.
Here are the main points from Leipold's pre-Border War press availability, including what the KU coach said about some of Mizzou's key players and the importance of the matchup:
Leipold's offensive coordinator for 11 seasons between 2013-23 and three different schools was Andy Kotelnicki — the current Penn State offensive play-caller who carved out a role for Beau Pribula as a running wrinkle in his unit in Happy Valley.
Pribula is, obviously, now the starting quarterback at Mizzou.
And, yes, Leipold has chatted with Kotelnicki about him.
"Spent some time with Andy this summer, and he just talked about (how) he's really an outstanding young man and really handled a tough situation about entering the portal," Leipold said. "(Kotelnicki) said (he) practiced the morning before he actually went in (the transfer portal), which says a lot. … Raved about him as a person, as a quarterback, and you can see that in a real extended period of time that he's a very good quarterback.
"He's difficult to defend because he's really a good dual-threat guy."
Pribula was never officially named as Mizzou's starter, but an injury in Week 1 to primary challenger Sam Horn has made that a formality. The Penn State transfer was 23-of-28 passing for 283 yards in his MU debut, and he accounted for four total touchdowns.
More: It's Beau time: Missouri football QB battle upended by injury, but Pribula earned it anyway
Mizzou has seemingly had speakers ranging from former players to historians over the summer to speak with its team. Kansas is going a similar route, per Leipold.
"We gave them a little background history today, all the way back to the border, and what the border stood for in the (past) and free states and and slave states and kind of went through the whole history of where these two states have been competitive and not always agreed," Leipold said. "And then went through when the first game was played and all the things that have gone on from there, and where the series is at. (We) touched on why it hasn't been played in a while.
"So, I think they got a good understanding of some of that."
The Kansas coach said it's still possible that his team also brings in former players to talk about the meaning of the matchup.
Leipold said in his press availability that former KU running back Devin Neal , a Lawrence native and now in the NFL, has already told him he would join the team as a walk-on just to play the game.
Opposition coaches don't typically spend much time pointing out weaknesses, but Leipold seemed particularly impressed with the makeup of Mizzou's defensive front.
The Tigers' own coaches have raved about the depth in the defensive end and linebacker rooms, and defensive tackle was one of the pleasant surprises of fall camp for Mizzou.
Leipold has taken notice.
"It's an excellent defensive line," the KU coach said. "Defensive ends are extremely twitchy and quick off the edge. The size up front at the D-tackle spot, and still very athletic. So, again, those things are always going to be challenging. Athletic linebackers."
More: Missouri football vs Kansas: Live pregame show SEC Nation coming to Columbia for Border War
Border War has been sold out for a few weeks now. Tickets for the game on the secondary market are currently selling for $200 for a nosebleed seat.
If the recent Border War basketball games are anything to go by, all signs suggest this is going to be as raucous an environment as they come.
"We practice with crowd noise quite often and things like that. We do it during fall camp. We try to create environments and stimulus to challenge our guys on communication and being loud," Leipold said. … "Obviously, that'll be increased or more frequent this week, especially being the first road game and it being a sellout, things like that. So, you try to keep that in the forefront as you talk about those important things."
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: What KU coach Lance Leipold said about Missouri football before Border War
