Bowling Green is 3-0 and might well feel fortunate to be so, after their nail-biting 31-29 defeat of a much-improved Ohio State Saturday.

While this was still an early-season game, and brought with it the inherent mistakes, it still brought with it plenty of excitement, too.

"They played us well - they always seem to play us well," said BGSU Head Coach Tony Mazzarella. "We made some mistakes. We were sloppy in gal-handling, but somehow we puled it out."

With the score 26-26 and just three minutes to go, Ohio State took the lead with a penalty kick. Receiving the restart, Bowling Green knew they had one shot.

"We had to keep the ball and make it work," said Mazzarella. "And that was a problem for us in the first half. We didn't retain possession which is why they took the lead. But at halftime we talked about cleaning up our possession, avoiding penalties on defense, and just keeping it rolling."

That's what they did in the final moments. With time almost up Bowling Green worked their way midfield, and then got a penalty. Outside center Mike Powell booted the penalty kick into touch about 30 meters out from the Ohio State line, and from that lineout, Ohio State knocked on. The game wasn't over yet, though, and there was time for the scrum. With Mazzarella having subbed in some bigger forwards to handle the Ohio State shove, the Falcons were ready to launch the attack. However, Powell had to leave with an injury, and wing Steve Fritsch came off due to leg cramps. Freshman Ryan Steinmetz out of Avon HS in Ohio was brought in at center and it was he who finished the back line attack, which went through everyone's hands, to set free wing Cole Shaffer for the game-winner.

The backs scored the game-winner for BGSU, but in the end it was the forward pack - led by Alex Garnaut, Frank Viancourt, Niall McNamara, and Sean McFarland - that finished it off, working the phases when one knock-on could have ended the game, and winning the scrum at the end.

It was not a precise performance, warned Mazzarella, and there were too many penalties on the defensive side of the ball, but the victory might do more for Bowling Green than a blowout could.

And spare a thought for Ohio State, once a challenger for top team in the nation, the Buckeyes have struggled (for them) of late. This result shows they are moving up again.