Border War returns to Lawrence, and Missouri's front has to hold

The Border War returns to Lawrence on Friday night for the first time since 2005. The game turns on whether Missouri can block and run well enough to keep Kansas from repeating the half it played last September. Kickoff at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium is 8 p.m. ET on FOX.

Kansas won the last one played there, 13-3 on Oct. 29, 2005. Missouri has not won in Lawrence since 2001, and after Friday the schools are not scheduled to meet again until 2031 in Columbia.

Last year in Columbia, Kansas led 21-6 early and lost 42-31. "Last year's game, we had some chances and didn't convert. We didn't make the stops when we needed to," said Lance Leipold, the Kansas coach.

Both teams opened with routs. Missouri beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 54-14, and Austin Simmons, in his first start, went 17 of 19 for 252 yards and four touchdowns without an interception while playing less than a half.

Kansas beat Long Island 51-6 with 613 yards of offense. Isaiah Marshall, in his first start, went 14 of 19 for 246 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 49 more. "I think their quarterback looks really good, really natural," Eli Drinkwitz, the Missouri coach, said of Marshall.

Missouri's questions are up front and in the backfield. Left tackle Cayden Green, a preseason All-American, missed the opener and practiced about three-quarters of Monday's session, and On3 reported Tuesday he is on track to play. "Need to see how he responds today to that work he got," Drinkwitz said Tuesday.

Running back Ahmad Hardy, shot at a concert in May, has not practiced this week, and Drinkwitz wants two full weeks of practice before he plays.

Backup Malae Fonoti tore his ACL in the opener and is out for the season. "I don't feel great," Drinkwitz said of the depth there.

Kansas gets the game at home, in a smaller home than usual. The east side of the stadium is under construction and capacity is just above 30,000.

The market has moved toward the home team. The Card, this site's picks product, logged Missouri's opening line at DraftKings via ESPN at -7, and by the time Wednesday's card was generated at 4:03 p.m. ET the number was Missouri -5.5, with the total down from 53.5 to 50.5.

KFVS reported the same numbers, Missouri by 5.5 with a total of 50.5, in its Wednesday preview.

The other Friday night game on the desk's card is Rutgers at Boston College, 7:30 p.m. ET. Rutgers lost 37-21 to UMass in Week 1 and lost quarterback Dylan Lonergan, a Boston College transfer, to a fourth-quarter injury.

AJ Surace finished, going 6 of 9 for 77 yards and a touchdown, and KJ Duff had 196 receiving yards and three touchdowns in the loss.

"Dylan was removed because of injury. That wasn't a performance substitution," said Greg Schiano, the Rutgers coach. Lonergan did not practice this week and Surace will start, SB Nation reported Wednesday.

Boston College lost 34-21 to Cincinnati and allowed four sacks. The card logged Boston College's opening line at DraftKings via ESPN at -3.5, and by Wednesday afternoon it was -3, with the total down from 55.5 to 54.5. FanDuel's Friday slate preview still listed Rutgers at +3.5.

Missouri has not won in Lawrence in 25 years, and it will try Friday with a left tackle working back through partial practices and a backfield two players short.

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