Ohio used a great defensive effort to beat Southeast Missouri State 17-3 Thursday night at Peden Stadium. The Bobcat defense forced five turnovers and kept the Division I-AA Indians from scoring on five of their six red zone possessions. Redshirt freshman outside linebacker Tyler Russ recovered a fumble and had an interception in his first action as a Bobcat. It was a night where Ohio needed its defense to shine as the offense would have four turnovers of its own.

A Stafford Owens 25-yard punt return helped set up Ohio's first score as on the next play junior Ryan Hawk hit redshirt freshman Scott Mayle with a 32-yard scoring strike with 3:37 left in the first quarter. After Greg Dimarino's 24-yard field goal with 14:10 left in the second, the defense would set up Ohio's final score. Junior Chip Cox recovered a fumble by SEMO's Corey Kinsey on the Ohio 12. Stafford Owens ran 12 yards to paydirt on the very next snap and the Cats were up 17-0 at the 5:36 mark. Southeast Missouri State's only score came after the Indians recovered a fumble on the Ohio 10. That resulted in a Derek Kutz 24-yard FG with 2:55 left in the half to cap the game's scoring.

The victory did not come without a price however. Junior running back Justin Roush suffered a serious knee injury on the second to last play of the game. It is believed he will be out for the season. Roush had been the most impressive of the Bobcat runners gaining 49 yards on 9 carries.

Ohio next travels to Ames, Iowa for a matchup with Iowa State. The two teams last met in 2001 with the Cyclones grabbing a 31-28 win at Peden Stadium. Iowa State opened its season with a 17-10 win over Northern Iowa.