The concept of rugby bowl games isn't new, but it's a relatively new thing for DIA rugby to get involved in.

This past weekend at the CRAA Fall Classic Ohio State took on Air Force, and it was exactly what Bowl Games are supposed to be. This was a clash of two different styles, and of two teams that rarely see each other, if ever. Ohio State won in a wild one 67-34 in which we got to see the difference between a team that has regular tough competition and players who have significant pre-college experience, and a team that starts from whole cloth almost every year.

Ohio State started off well, using their forwards to drive Air Force back, and then those forwards got involved in open field, with Leo Bell running a nice line, linking with fellow prop Joey Phipps, and then getting the return pass to trundle over. the teams traded kicks after that for a bit and then traded penalty goals, with Conor Forrestal and CJ Gabriel both getting three points. But the next penalty was too far for Forrestal to point to the posts so he thumped the ball down into the Air Force 22 for a lineout, and hooker Maximus Clark finished off the maul with a drive over. 

Forrestal's goalkicking was, once again, quite excellent and he ended up slotting seven out of the eight conversions he attempted which, with his penalty goal, netted him 17 points. That was just a regular day at the office for the Ohio State flyhalf. The forwards were back at it pounding the line and this time Luke Misleh dove over from short range. The freshman lock has done well to solidify his spot on a very good Ohio State team despite this being his first year. He was a huge part of Cardinal Moeller's excellent 2021 season earlier this year. Then Phipps scored to make it a try for every member of the front row, and suddenly it was 31-3. Ohio State's pressure forced some Air Force penalties, and eventually they got a warning, and the next penalty saw lock Michael Garafalo in the sin bin. The next penalty after that saw scrumhalf Dallas Felch take ten minutes off.

Down to 13 players, Air Force was in serious trouble, and Bell crashed over for his second and it was 38-6 at halftime.

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Undaunted, Air Force ramped up their intensity and decided to play some open, risky rugby in the second half. It worked nicely. 

Well ... first Misleh did exactly what he did the time before and picked up at the back of the ruck and dove over for a try. But then, with Garafalo and then Felch coming back on the field, Air Force started to work the ball and No. 8 Riley LaDuque trundled over. Clark and OSU captain Josh Leidich—the first Ohio State back to score a try—added to the Buckeye's lead, But then Air Force unleashed Mitchell Landon with a nifty team try, and after that, a weird one. The ball rolled into touch with a bunch of players nearby. This is not normally when anyone takes a quick lineout, but most players' minds elsewhere, fullback Jackson Mitchell got a quick throw and just turned it on down the sideline. OSU were like "wait, what?" And Mitchell was in for a try.

Gabriel decided to be super cool and put the touchline conversion over. Ohio State No. 8 Josef O'Brien scored a try he dearly deserved, and then Garafalo did the same for Air Force. At that point Air Force had actually outscored Ohio State in the second half. But the Buckeyes worked the ball nicely for Chris Mason to go over and ended it 67-34.

For Ohio State, O'Brien was astounding, winning pretty much every lineout—so much so that Air Force stopped kicking to touch on penalties and instead opted to take the tap or go for a scrum. The OSU front row was powerful and Bell was named game MVP, but O'Brien was just as deserving, as was flanker Nik Zolikoff, who, despite being somewhat small of stature, gleefully took down much larger runners on the regular. Leidich, who led Ohio State to a Big 10 championship, was brilliant and it was his ball movement and unselfishness combined with skill that opened up chances for others. Scrumhalf Vince Carso, the Big 10 MVP, was almost an after-thought but was dangerous all day.

At halftime, said LaDuque, Air Force just needed to play harder and faster.

"We weren't coming up fast enough on defense, we were standing too close to the rucks, we needed pace," said LaDuque.

Mitchell agreed.

"That's our game that we play, something that makes us a little bit different from the Big 10. But we'll run you into the ground; that's what we do run hard run fast."

For Ohio State the idea of playing a different style was important, too. 

"I think this game means a lot to us but the biggest thing is we just want to compete and show that not only us but the Big 10 can take ourselves beyond our league championship we want to compete for bigger and better things," said Leidich. "Guys like Leo and all the other guys ... that they love this. They show up every day for practice on and off the field, and the hard work pays off and it showed today."

"We all work together and we love the pick-and-goes at the goalline that's our specialty in the front row," said Bell, who was part of a front row that got five tries. "Someone's going to get it; it happened to me twice."

For Bell, being on this Ohio State team is huge.

"It means everything," he said. "Coming in this year I didn't know I was going to start. Coming through Week 3 starting, it really put a smile on my face."

Playing a bowl game means a lot too.

"It was an honor to be here, it was a unique opportunity," said LaDuque. "When we found out we had an offer to play Ohio State all the guys were psyched; we were on Cloud Nine. We are just happy to be here, happy to play."

Leidich echoed those sentiments.

"It makes it exciting. Guys were looking for film during the week. It brings the east and west together. It's pulling teams from all over the country and say hey let's go here and compete. it elevates the game."