photo by: Mike Yoder

Kansas sophomore defensive end Dorance Armstrong works out with the team at Memorial Stadium, early Friday, July 29, 2016.

The oldest college football rivalry west of the Mississippi lays dormant, so fanatical Jayhawks must look elsewhere to celebrate more subtle victories against their once-regular enemies.

One such opportunity came Sunday in St. Joseph, Mo., when Kansas won the Midwest Cup, wresting the trophy from defending champion Missouri at St. Joseph (Mo.) Country Club, making celebrities of Lawrence golfers Bradley Lane, William Gantz and Conrad Roberts and seven others from the state.

And then there is the case of talented, driven sophomore defensive end Dorance Armstrong, a recruiting victory for Kansas vs. Missouri.

Once KU defensive coordinator Clint Bowen told the story of stalling to make Missouri coaches wait outside Armstrong’s Houston home during an in-home visit after Armstrong chose KU, the football player became a fan favorite months before stepping foot on campus.

Armstrong’s body of work and work on his body since that time has enhanced his popularity with coaches and soon is bound to have the same impact on the fan base.

When Armstrong reported to summer conditioning in June of 2015, he weighed 216 pounds. Now the scale reads 241, a source of great pride for the 6-foot-4 Armstrong and of great confidence for the coaching staff.

Strength and conditioning coach Je’Ney Jackson and his staff selected Armstrong as the seventh and final Workout Warrior of the Week for the summer of 2016. Armstrong and teammates report for fall camp Thursday.

Armstrong looked back on the home visit with Bowen and former KU defensive line coach Calvin Thibodeaux, now in the same role at Oklahoma.

“My mom cooked some spaghetti and my little brother, (Kaleb Cain) 9 at the time, the moment it was done, he offered both coaches some spaghetti and they sat down and ate it, and I guess they loved it,” Armstrong said, smiling at the memory.

As the coaches and family chatted with full bellies, Armstrong’s phone rang. It was an assistant coach from Missouri.

“They told me they’re outside,” Armstrong recalled, “and I said, ‘Oh dear, I have some coaches already in here.’ He said, ‘All right, we’ll wait.’ Then coach Bowen and coach Thibodeaux stayed for 20 minutes longer and the Missouri coaches came in right after.’ It was kind of awkward and I was never expecting that to happen.”

At the time, Armstrong didn’t appreciate the full magnitude of the scheduling conflict.

“I wasn’t aware of the rivalry at all,” Armstrong said. “I didn’t find out about it until I got here. Two rivalry schools at my house at the same time.”

And only one of those schools received Armstrong’s signature on a national letter of intent. He said no to scholarship offers from power-five-conference schools Indiana, Michigan State, Missouri, Northwestern and Purdue, as well as hometown Houston.

In recruiting, schools generally prefer being the first or last school. Ideally, they are one and the same.

“This was the only school I took my visit to,” Armstrong said. “When I came here, I actually fell in love with the place so I decided not to go anywhere afterward. I liked the environment and the people I met. I met a lot of random, nice people and I felt like I fit in. Everything has fallen into place as I planned.”

Lest Kansas fans forget the name of the recruit who kept Missouri coaches waiting outside of his house and eventually told them no thank you, Armstrong stayed fresh on the brain by registering a sack, and looking very fast in doing so, on the first play from scrimmage of his college career. It came in the second quarter of KU’s season-opening, 41-38 loss to South Dakota State. He ranked third on the team with 3.5 sacks.

“It was the best feeling ever,” Armstrong said.

And it was only a beginning.

“He’s had an unbelievably good summer,” Jackson said. “He could have won this award probably five times this summer, at least. Like I told the team, we only had seven of these to hand out and the nice thing is several of the guys that have won it could have won it multiple times.”

Jackson said that Armstrong has “made some huge gains, huge, huge gains in the weight room, conditioning-wise, his body. He has committed himself to getting his body right, which is great, fantastic.”

Jackson said Armstrong’s current weight is perfect for this season. After that, who knows?

“Usually what I do is we will gain weight until we start losing speed,” Jackson said. “Once we start losing speed, that’s where we cap it. You don’t want to sacrifice all your speed to be big because then you’re big and slow.”

Armstrong said he is faster now than at any point in his life and the testing done by the strength and conditioning staff confirms that.

“Him getting faster is a direct correlation to No. 1, the speed work he’s doing and No. 2, he’s so much stronger than he was last year,” Jackson said. “It’s crazy how much stronger he is.”

Armstrong’s favorite NFL player is Von Miller, Super Bowl MVP for the Denver Broncos. A pass-rushing outside linebacker, a possible long-term designation for Armstrong, the 6-foot-3 Miller weighed 246 pounds coming out of Texas A&M. He’s listed at 250 now.

“I’ve been watching him since three years ago and ever since I get deep into his game, and I want to become more like him and be able to do the things he does,” Armstrong said.

Asked to name a specific way he has tried to mimic Miller, Armstrong said, “I feel like when I’m rushing the tackle my dip and lean is kind of like his. Get low to the ground and just keep going.”

Armstrong won’t need to be the next Von Miller to achieve his goal of becoming a multi-year All-Big 12 performer.

“Unbelievably talented, super athletic,” Jackson said of Armstrong. “He just wants to be good. It’s unusual for a guy that young to have that type of mentality already. When he came here, he had that mentality that he wanted to be really, really good, so he works at it. He does a lot of extra things. After everybody’s done, he’s still out there working on pass-rush moves and all that stuff, which is awesome.”

Workout warriors

June 13: Daniel Wise, DT

June 20: Josh Ehambe, DE

June 27: LaQuvionte Gonzalez, WR

July 4: Jeremiah Booker, WR

July 18: D.J. Williams, DT

July 25: Joe Gibson, C

Today: Dorance Armstrong, DE