ATHENS – Ohio’s defense dominated again, and the Bobcats defeated Miami for the ninth time in the last 10 meetings, 34-3, on Saturday at Peden Stadium.

The Bobcats picked off freshman quarterback Billy Bahl four times, limited the RedHawks to 253 yards of offense, kept an opponent out of the end zone for the second straight game and had its biggest margin of victory in the Battle of the Bricks.

Quentin Poling returned a pick 25 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the second half. Ian Wells, Jovon Johnson and Langston Provitt also had interceptions.

"It felt good, especially since it was on homecoming when you get all the alumni back to see the game,” Johnson said. “We got to beat (Miami) up pretty bad. I think it felt really good for us."

The Bobcats (5-1, 2-0 Mid-American Conference) scored on the game’s opening possession. After having an interception of their own wiped out by a pass interference penalty, Ohio got on the board on the next play with a 2-yard Daz’mond Patterson touchdown run.

A short field and a 39-yard screen pass to Papi White set up the Bobcat’s second score, a 6-yard touchdown pass from Derricks Vick to Sebastian Smith, who finished with nine catches for 91 yards.

Miami (1-5, 0-2 MAC) scored its only points of the game on the next possession, getting a 34-yard field goal from Kaleb Patterson, but it was answered shortly before halftime with a career-long 50-yard field goal by Josiah Yazdani to make it 17-3 at halftime.

Poling’s interception return for a touchdown was followed by Johnson’s interception, which set up a 41-yard Yazdani field goal, making it 27-3 early in the second half.

“I believe we were 16th in the nation coming into this game with a plus-6 turnover ratio,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said. “Improving on that means we are doing things the right way. We have been doing a good job of taking the ball away but also doing a good job of taking care of the ball from an offensive and special teams standpoint as well.”

Ohio’s final score came with 1:33 remaining in the game on a 1-yard Maleek Irons run to cap a nine-play drive that featured eight runs by Irons, who ended up as the game’s leading rusher with 49 yards on 11 attempts.

The Bobcats rotated in many players, especially at running back, where five different players had carries. Dorian Brown had seven attempts for 44 yards, and Patterson finished with 11 attempts for 35 yards. Starter A.J. Ouellette carried only twice for 17 yards.

“We are utilizing the talent,” Solich said. “Would A.J. love more carries? No question. Could he be a 100-yard back nearly every game? Probably. If Daz is back there, he could be too. They are all sacrificing a little bit. That is what’s been great about this football team. They have remained unified.”

Vick, though still unable to do much running because of an ankle injury, had another efficient passing game, completing 21-of-33 attempts for 243 yards. However, he was picked off in the end zone by Brison Burris late in the third quarter.

Bahl completed only 8-of-23 passes with four interceptions and was sacked once.

“I’m not going to throw him under the bus, but on the other hand, we can’t win a game with if he's going to throw four picks,” Miami coach Chuck Martin said. “He’s got to get better in a hurry; he’s got to learn from today. We got to look at what we’re doing and make sure he gets the ball in safe places to at least let us punt the ball and half a chance to play defense.”

Maurice Thomas had a 43-yard run, but even with it, the RedHawks were limited to 87 yards on 24 rushing attempts.

Ohio’s defense moved closer to full health with both Johnson and defensive end Tarell Basham returning to action, and both of them making a difference. Basham led the team in tackles with six, including a half sack. But the Bobcats played without cornerback Devin Bass.

Miami’s Paul Moses was ejected early in the game when he was called for targeting on Smith’s touchdown catch.

“I won’t come up with things to say I am displeased with my football team because I really am not,” Solich said. “They played hard for four quarters and that’s all you can ask of them. I thought they did a better job today in terms of penalties. I didn’t see any stats on them but just being on the sidelines it seemed like we did a better job there. They want to get better. They are working on things to get better so we can make a run at things.”

Ohio hosts Western Michigan at 12 p.m. Saturday in its Bobcat Blackout Game at Peden Stadium.