Travis Dambach goes from Jackson to Jayhawks

Two years of little playing time left Travis Dambach plenty of time to work on improvement and plenty of time to learn the history of the Border Showdown.

That improvement has turned the Jackson native into the starting right tackle for Kansas (3-7, 1-6 Big 12 Conference) when it visits Missouri (4-5, 3-4) on Saturday.

Missouri leads the Border Showdown rivalry 52-51-9.

"Two years of not playing a lot makes you want to just work harder," Dambach said.

It also makes him appreciate his role as a starter. "I love it," he said.

Kansas coach Mark Mangino said he is pleased with the work ethic Dambach has shown in his three years in Lawrence, Kan.

"We're real excited for Travis," Mangino said. "He's one of the hardest working guys on our team."

Dambach, a three-year standout lineman for Jackson, had no problem heading out of state after high school to the rival Jayhawks. The 6-foot-5, 295-pound redshirt sophomore said he did not follow the Tigers growing up.

Once Missouri stopped its recruitment of him, Dambach signed with the Jayhawks mainly because he liked the coaches.

Despite this comfort level, Dambach grew frustrated with the absence of playing time that accompanies a redshirt season.

"You want to go out there so bad, but you look at the guys playing and know you can't play," he said.

That began to change last season. As a redshirt freshman, Dambach saw action in 12 of the Jayhawks' 13 games and even made one start at right tackle. But with a banged up defense struggling, Dambach agreed to the coaching staff's suggestion to move to defense.

"We were a little short on the defensive line," he said. "They thought I had the size, strength and quickness to move over there, and I was willing to do whatever I could to help the team."

This season, even as the Jayhawks have struggled, Dambach is back helping on offense. During spring practices, Dambach asked the coaches to move back to his more familiar position. He said he feels more comfortable there, but he does miss some parts of his defensive experience.

"On defense, the plays were a lot simpler," Dambach said. "It's basically, just get out there and get after it. But I'm more of an offensive guy."

That move paid off when Dambach started Kansas' first three games at right tackle. However, the coaches again felt he could help the team at a different spot. So redshirt freshman Cesar Rodriguez slid into the starting right tackle position and Dambach went to the bench, backing up both the right tackle and right guard positions.

Still, he continued to put in the hard work that earned him the starting position at the start of the season. He regained his starting spot before the Jayhawks' 27-23 loss against No. 6 Texas on Saturday.

Mangino said Dambach performed at a high level against the Longhorns.

"Travis played the best game to date," Mangino said. "He's been kind of a backup guy for us, but he played right tackle in the place of Cesar Rodriguez and played his best football game."

Coming off his stellar performance, Dambach now gets his fifth start of the season against his home-state Tigers.

He just became aware of the history between the two teams since his arrival at Kansas.

"It wasn't until I got here and started talking to some of the people here that I learned what this rivalry means," Dambach said. "One of our coaches has lived in Lawrence his whole life and told us how it goes beyond football, back to the Civil War.

"Until you hear that, you don't realize the importance of this game."