AMHERST, N.Y. – Ohio could not overcome the loss of three starting defensive players, Buffalo’s big-play capabilities and missed opportunities in a 38-37 loss at UB Stadium on Saturday.

Branden Oliver, who had 179 yards rushing on 34 carries, scored his third touchdown with 5:45 remaining and the Bulls held off the Bobcats.

In a game of shifting momentum, Ohio lost starting defensive linemen Carl Jones (shoulder) and Curtis Meyers (illness) and safety Xavier Hughes (shoulder) in the first quarter, while already playing without cornerback Omar Leftwich (shoulder) and defensive tackle Neal Huynh (knee).

The Bulls jumped out to a 21-7 lead in the second quarter, but the Bobcats rallied back for a 31-24 lead in the third quarter.

Ohio (4-2, 1-1 Mid-American Conference) settled for three Matt Weller field goals and got touchdowns by four different players.

Chazz Anderson threw for 343 yards and two touchdowns on 23 of 39 passing as Buffalo rolled up 510 yards of offense.

“I think Buffalo has got a good offensive football team and I thought their quarterback made plays through the air this game maybe better than he has all year,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said. “He’s got good receivers, and when he threw it high to them, they could go up and get it pretty good. Defensively, we just did not control the football game."

Weller’s 46-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter gave the Bobcats a 34-31 lead, but the Bulls chewed up more than eight minutes with a 78-yard drive that culminated with Oliver’s fourth-and-goal run from the 1-yard-line.

The Bulls (2-4, 1-1 MAC) converted three third downs and one fourth down on the drive. It seemed the Bobcats were going to limit their opponent to a field goal try when Anderson was sacked by Corey Hasting along the sideline on a third-and-15 play, but he was flagged for a horse collar tackle that Solich made clear to the officials he did not agree with.

Oliver gave Buffalo a first down at the 1-yard line, but Ohio held three straight downs before finally surrendering a run for the winning touchdown up the middle. Solich was screaming for a timeout before the play but did not get the call. He declined to comment on the officiating after the game.

A Ryan Clarke 60-yard kickoff return to the Buffalo 22-yard line, though, had Ohio back in business with still 5:35 remaining. Donte Harden, coming back from a groin injury after missing the last two and a half games, moved the ball to the 5-yard line on two runs, but a chop block pushed the Bobcats back and ultimately left them forced to settle for a field goal with 3:23 remaining.

“You’re kind of pushed into a corner on that call,” Solich said. “Fourth-and-16, the chances of converting that are so slim. You knew that they would look for a fake field goal, so what’s left? What’s left is to kick it and hope you get a three-and-out.”

The Bobcats got just that and they took over with one last chance to win, starting at their own 19-yard line with 3:16 remaining. Tyler Tettleton hooked up with Riley Dunlop for a 15-yard completion, but Ohio gained only five yards on the next three plays. On fourth down, Tettleton was nailed before he could get off a pass and fumbled.

After a rough start, Ohio’s defense started to settle down in the second half.

The Bobcats tied the game at 24 on a 9-yard pass from Tettleton to Dunlop to open the second half, and after two straight Bulls punts, Ohio took its first lead, 31-24, on a 67-yard end-around run by LaVon Brazill.

Momentum went right back to Buffalo, however, when it scored on a 90-yard touchdown on a screen pass to Ed Young, who finished with five catches for 135 yards.

“Somebody has to make a play on that play,” Ohio safety Gerlad Moore said. “That was a tough play on us in the secondary. Somebody just has to make a play on the sideline and we can get him out of bounds and at least try to do something to save us and give us another down.”

Ohio reached Buffalo’s 12-yard line on its next possession, but missed out on at least a field goal when Tettleton threw his first pick since the first possession of the first game in the end zone, trying to hook up with Brazil in the end zone.

“It was my fault,” Tettleton said. “They ran a play where they double Von. I just saw the safety come down, and I figured Von verse anyone. That actually disguised it pretty well. I just through Von verse anyone, he’s going to win it the majority of the time. I gave it a chance and didn’t see the safety and he just made a play on it.”

Tettleton finished 23 of 37 for 203 yards and added 66 yards rushing on 13 carries.

Oliver’s first touchdown came on a 12-yard run on his team’s second possession of the game. Harden answered, though, scoring on a 13-yard run after he busted off a 67-yard kick return.

Still in the first quarter, Oliver scored on a 1-yard run, and in the second quarter, Anderson threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Alex Nuetz that made it 21-7.

A 40-yard Tettleton run got Ohio back to within seven points, and the Bobcats limited the Bulls to a 23-yard Peter Fardon field goal after Oliver broke off a 58-yard run to the 2-yard line.

The Bobcats also had to settle for a short field goal, though, despite earning a first-and-goal from the 10-yard line. Weller’s 27-yarder shortly before halftime made it 24-17 at the brak.

Even though Ohio produced seven scores, Solich said there were points left on the field.

“We hurt ourselves with some penalties,” he said. “When you get a chop block call when you’re down there ready to put points on the board and it takes you out of it, when you get a holding call when you’re in good position, those things you can’t do. You just can’t have it. Regardless of how it’s viewed, if it’s called, it’s called. We just hurt ourselves on that end of it. We wish we had 8-10 plays back, but that’s not the way the game works.”

Harden carried 14 times for 89 yards. Dunlop had six receptions for 66 yards.

Hasting led the defense with eight tackles and the Bobcats’ only sack of the day. Josh Copeland had 10 tackles for Buffalo.

“We were down three starters after about the first series or so, and then coupled with those other two, that gets into your depth pretty quickly. I feel good about the effort of the guys who had to give a lot of snaps that normally wouldn’t be out there as much as they were. I thought they gave a great effort.”

Ohio hosts Ball State for homecoming at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.