51ºÚÁÏ

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Saturday was all about a certain four-letter word.

The Missouri fans started spewing it at sunup, followed by the initials K and U. Fraternity bros bellowed it from balconies. It was on printed signs hoisted up proudly like Norma Rae would. And it was chanted during the pregame playing of “Mr. Brightside� at the Missouri-Kansas game.

But once the rivalry’s vitriol floated into the sunny sky, and the focus was on the actual football being played, well, Saturday was all about a certain four-letter word.

Beau.

Young Beau Pribula etched himself into MU-KU lore and established himself as a legit starting quarterback in his second game ever in black-and-gold. In the 42-31 win against the Jayhawks — Mizzou trailed 21-6 at the end of the first quarter — Pribula threw three touchdown passes and nary an interception. He was 30 for 39 for 334 yards. He wasn’t perfect. There was a brutal fumble. And a couple times he could’ve just thrown the ball away. But he was a winning quarterback in a huge environment.

Oh, and he was 4 for 5 on fourth down.

“We’re not ready to crown anybody, but really proud of him — he took a step in the right direction,� said Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz, whose Tigers are now 2-0. “But when we watch the tape, there’s going to be a lot of things we’ve got to have taken off the tape, like being jittery in the pocket early. … But he had a good day.�

And he ascended in the moments of most importance.

Missouri trailed, 31-28, with 8:45 remaining.

So … it was a got-to-have-it drive. And Beau, who sure has got the it factor, indeed got it.

Pribula marched Mizzou.

He was 6 for 7 on the drive, making some gutsy throws — as his receivers made some gutsy grabs. To be fair, there was one pretty bad Pribula mistake on the drive — on second and 10 from midfield, he took a sack instead of throwing it away. That set up a loooooong third and 17.

But he was complete to Brett Norfleet for 11 yards.

This set up the first of two fourth-down completions on the pivotal drive.

From the KU 46, Pribula found Kevin Coleman Jr. for a vital 10-yard catch.

Three plays later, they were in a similar spot.

Fourth and 1 from the 27.

Too far for the backup freshman kicker.

So Mizzou went for it.

And what a play call by offensive coordinator Kirby Moore. Norfleet was wide open in the flat and he galloped 27 yards for his second touchdown. Mizzou led 35-31 and never trailed again.

“Just a lot of confidence in his receivers — I thought he did a nice job of finding open targets,� Drinkwitz said. “Obviously, Kevin Coleman made some big-time catches and continually does that. But, you know, no panic. I think Beau is really cool, calm, collected. There are going to be a lot of things on tape you’ve got to clean up. I thought (he was) a little bit finicky in the first half … in the pocket. I thought we were moving when we didn't need to, and we missed some reads. There's a lot to improve on, but in the biggest moments, in the toughest times on fourth down, I mean, he was nails.�

Yes, Pribula is still a young quarterback in regards to experience, despite this being his fourth college season. He’d never cracked 100 yards while coming off the bench at Penn State. Now he’s tallied 284 yards and 334 in starts for Mizzou. As he grows, this young Tiger team will grow too.

And he’ll forever have a win under his belt from one of the most-anticipated Mizzou games of the 21st century.

Gosh, it seemed like any conversation this past week somehow ended up being about MU-KU. It was Missouri’s first game against the hated team in red stockings since 2011. First in Columbia since 2006. And on Saturday, the excitement level around this town was exceptional (and expletive-laced). For the 2:30 p.m. kickoff, students were allowed inside Faurot Field at 12:15 p.m. — and the chanting gold-clad fans let their opinions known about the University of Kansas hours before kickoff.

And this was outrageous. At the 2-minute timeout in the first half, after the Tigers had mounted a comeback, the stadium hosted a promotional moment on the field. Out trotted out a fan to kick a 45-yard field goal. He would earn $25,000 if he made it. That said, it’s quite a difficult ask.

So, the fellow lifted his T-Shirt to reveal his painted chest with the first letter of the four-letter word … and then KU.

He then — and this was wild — kicked the ball toward the Kansas sideline and lifted his shirt again!

The stadium roared.

Missouri does not like Kansas.

And Missouri defeated Kansas thanks to its new general.

“He stayed poised, he stayed calm — that's the captain on our team,� Coleman said of Pribula. “That's the one we look up to as a team to count on. And when you see that guy staying calm, we’ve got no worries. Confidence is everything. You've seen the confidence he's coming with, the energy he's bringing. So we all just stay poised.

“But we all practice these moments. When I first got here — I've been to a few schools — I haven’t seen any school practice like this, practicing situations like this, and I'm talking about every single day. So once we were down, we stayed calm … and we believed.�