Darius Robinson reveals what makes Kentucky rivalry so strong

Kentucky and Missouri aren’t very old rivals, but each year the tension between the two current SEC East sides only rises. Particularly, though, it’s the Tigers that peddle the flame between these two schools more than the Wildcats — and once again this year at SEC Media Days, Mizzou players have discussed just how invested they are in the annual matchup with Kentucky.

Last year, one player even said that he views UK as a bigger rivalry than Arkansas, the Tigers’ annual SEC West opponent. And last year’s game lived up to the hype, with Kentucky needing a wacky penalty call on a punt to ultimately help them win a 21-17 slugfest between two of the best 40 defenses in the country.

Missouri’s Darius Robinson spoke on the grittiness of the Tigers’ rivalry with the ‘Cats, noting that he’s excited for a shot at revenge in Lexington this fall.

“It’s just a good game,” said Robinson when asked about the UK rivalry. “I think Kentucky and Arkansas, those are just very gritty games because I think we’re gritty teams and we’re both really really hungry and that game always comes down to the last drive. And I can’t wait to play there at Kroger Field this year. That’s going to be a great game.”

He was also asked if he’d like to see Missouri keep Kentucky as a regular opponent on the schedule once it all gets shaken up. His answer:

“Yeah, we gotta talk to the SEC, see if we can keep that one going, because that’s always a big game.”

Tiger defense back Kris Abrams-Draine answered a similar question, saying he’d like to see the ‘Cats and Hogs remain on the docket going forward: “Yeah. Them and Arkansas for sure. Because that’s our rivalries to us, so we feel like (we) should play them.”

Asked to elaborate on why the Kentucky rivalry has heated up so much in recent years, the star DB responded:

“Because, like, it’s SEC everything. Kinda, it’s a little bit of a rivalry, but we just feel like we always play them either at the beginning of the year or always at the end. Like, we just wanna win. But like, I don’t know, there’s something we don’t like about them and they don’t like about us.”

The stage is set for a final showdown between these two budding rivals as SEC East foes. It remains to be seen whether they’ll maintain their annual contest once Oklahoma and Texas arrive. We do no they will not in 2024.

As for the history of this rivalry, it’s been one of streaks. Kentucky absolutely dominated it in the 20th century, winning the only two games the teams played — both when the Beatles were still putting out new music — before they finally played their third-ever game once Mizzou joined the SEC.

To start their SEC tenure, Missouri kicked tail. They won two division titles (and haven’t since) and stomped some early Stoops teams by scores of 33-10, 48-17 and 20-10. But everything changed in 2015. Stoops landed a massive win for him at the time by overcoming the Tigers 20-13 to start a five-year winning streak over Missouri that was a catalyst for Kentucky’s recent run of success.

Missouri did snap the streak in 2020 to beat a Terry-Wilson-led UK team but has since lost the last two. That gives Kentucky the 9-4 advantage overall against Missouri and 7-4 against them in SEC play.