KENT – Ohio took care of business in a big way with a 41-0 rout of winless Kent State on Wednesday night at Dix Stadium.

The Bobcats’ defense dominated throughout, and the offense looked pretty good too. Ohio (6-3, 4-1 Mid-American Conference) racked up 407 yards of offense, while Kent State (0-9, 0-5 MAC) finished with 114, including just 33 against backups in the fourth quarter.

Ohio’s first possession stalled and resulted in a Gianni Spetic 42-yard field goal. The Bobcats finished their second drive with an Anthony Tyus 19-yard touchdown run to make it 10-0.

After Ohio punted on its third possession, Kent State finally picked up a first down on its fourth drive, but Raman Parodie picked off Ruel Tomlinson two plays later, eventually leading to a Spetic 36-yard field goal.

Parker Navarro added a 3-yard rushing touchdown with 3:07 left in the half, making it 20-0, and the Bobcats had a shot to get a few more points, but Spetic missed a 55-yard field goal try wide after making what turned out to be a warmup try because of a Kent State timeout.

The Bobcats outgained the Golden Flashes 246-41 in the first half.

Special teams got in on the domination in the second half for Ohio. Eamonn Dennis returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown to make it 27-0, and later in the third quarter, Coleman Owen took a punt 61 yards into the end zone.

Backup quarterback Nick Poulos threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Butler in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, extending the lead to 41-0.

Navarro went 14-of-24 passing for 142 yards, but it was on the ground that the Bobcats really dominated. In his return from injury, Tyus had 84 yards on 14 carries, while Rickey Hunt Jr. picked up 80 yards on just nine carries. Ohio finished with 258 rushing yards.

Though the Bobcats did not need to pass much, Owen had four catches for 61 yards.

Defensively, Ohio had 14 tackles for loss, led by CJ Doggett with 2.5. Five of those tackles for loss were sacks, with six different players involved.

Kent State quarterback Ruel Tomlinson was just 8-of-18 passing for 62 yards and an interception. Ky Thomas was the leader on offense with 15 carries for 50 yards.

It was the first time since 2018 that Ohio has scored 40 points in back-to-back games. The Bobcats routed Buffalo 47-16 in their last game.

The victory, paired with Western Michigan’s loss to Northern Illinois, puts Ohio into a four-way tie for first place in the MAC, along with the Broncos, Bowling Green and Miami. In the new non-divisional format, the top two teams will play in the MAC Championship Game.

Ohio hosts Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Peden Stadium.