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COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri safety Jalen Catalon and Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels share (in terms of pronunciation) a first name and 13 combined years of college football experience.

They’ve seen plenty over the course of their long careers — including, last September, each other.

Catalon and Daniels should have faced off in 2022, when the former was at Texas but missed almost all of the season with an injury. When KU played the Longhorns in 2023, Daniels was hurt.

But last year, with Catalon playing for Barry Odom’s UNLV team and Daniels playing a full season for the Jayhawks, they battled on the field.

On Saturday, when Mizzou (1-0) hosts Kansas (2-0) for the return of the Border War rivalry, Catalon and Daniels will meet again — this time as two veterans whose individual matchup will be key in determining the game.

Daniels is the exact kind of quarterback who has given the Tigers problems in the past, particularly last year. Corralling him is both a nuanced and necessary task for the MU defense to hold up against a shifty Jayhawks offense.

The days and hours leading up to Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. kickoff (TV: ESPN2; radio: 550-AM KTRS, locally) will be dominated by the off-field storyline of a resumed rivalry. When it comes to the actual game, however, much of it will boil down to how Missouri handles its first tricky opponent of the 2025 season.

“I think their quarterback is a terrific player,� MU coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “He’s back to his former self.�

By that, he means the preseason Heisman Trophy contender Daniels looked to be heading into a 2023 campaign he lost to injury after just three games. There isn’t that same buzz around him these days, but he’s still quite dangerous.

Through the Jayhawks’ two blowout wins to start the season — against Fresno State and Wagner — Daniels has thrown for 456 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception while completing 80% of his passes. He has also picked up 65 yards on the ground.

That start to 2025 follows an up-and-down 2024 that saw Daniels complete just 57% of his passes while throwing for 2,454 yards, 14 touchdowns and a Big 12-high 12 picks.

The threat posed by Daniels is not about what he’s done, though. It’s more about what he can do to punish a defense unprepared to cover downfield options while keeping his rushing ability contained.

“That’s the conundrum that you’re put in with him,� Drinkwitz said. “He’s played a lot of football. He’s seen a lot of different things, so there’s not a whole lot of things that you’re going to do that confuses him. He’s an excellent thrower of the football. They do a really good job of moving the pocket, which I think is really subtle but really helps him because he’s already moving — now (when) he decides to take off running, he’s already got momentum. When he’s in the pocket, you’re going to have to really work to constrict the pocket, but you’ve got to stay in your rush lanes.

“We’ve played several of these styles of quarterbacks before — in the SEC, that’s becoming more and more popular — but we’ve never played anyone like him, or maybe as good as him.�

Catalon is the exception in that he has played Daniels.

In that matchup, which KU lost 30-23 to UNLV, Daniels struggled to the tune of 12 for 24 passing, just 153 passing yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. He did score twice with his legs in that game but couldn’t find any traction through the air.

Is that a helpful baseline for the safety to draw upon?

“Definitely,� Catalon said. “I’m taking tendencies and things I’ve seen before. But I know every single year people develop and become better than they were last year.�

Daniels’ growth aside, Mizzou will need to show development and better defensive play against quarterbacks like him.

The Tigers allowed 14 passing touchdowns in all of 2024, but 10 of those came in just three games: against Boston College’s Thomas Castellanos (three), Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia (two) and South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers (five).

All three quarterbacks had the escapability to require adjustment from MU’s pass rushers — a dedicated effort to contain and not over-rush to open up scramble lanes. They also found ways to punish an undisciplined secondary for gazing hungrily into the pocket instead of tracking the wideouts charging behind them. The only catch Vanderbilt wideout Joseph McVay logged last season, for example, was a 65-yard touchdown reception granted by a Missouri coverage bust.

If Kansas’ offense looks like it has so far this season, it’ll deploy shifts, fakes and options to challenge the defense’s ability to make reads. One overcommitment from one player on one play could be enough to concede a needless touchdown — as Mizzou learned last season.

Saturday’s game against the Jayhawks, then, will test the Tigers on what they’ve learned from last season’s struggles against mobile quarterbacks with a high-stakes first exam of the fall.

“We’re just going to have to a really good job of tackling,� Drinkwitz said. “We’re going to have to a great job of covering because at the end of the day, if wide receivers are open, he’s going to throw it to them.�