PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Ohio’s offense lost four fumbles and the defense struggled to stop third downs and Mohamed Sanu in a 38-26 loss at Rutgers on Saturday afternoon.

Sanu had 16 catches for 176 yards and two touchdowns and helped the Scarlet Knights (2-1) convert 11 of 18 third downs while piling up 410 yards of offense and 40 minutes of possession time.

Despite running just 58 plays, the Bobcats (3-1) managed 404 yards of offense, but only 65 of those came on the ground with starting running back Donte Harden sitting out with an injury.

Tyler Tettleton was 23 of 36 for 339 yards and three touchdowns to lead Ohio.

Rutger’s Chas Dodd was 21 of 32 for 232 yards and three touchdowns with one interception.

“As I told you at the beginning of the week, I really believed (Ohio was) a good football team and they are,” Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said. “I am proud of our guys’ performance and am proud on how they approached the two weeks (since a Rutgers loss to North Carolina).”

Dodd connected with Sanu for a 7-yard touchdown pass with 6:29 remaining, but Ohio answered with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Tettleton to LaVon Brazill late in the first quarter to tie the game at 7.

A 3-yard Savon Huggins touchdown run gave the Scralet Knights the lead for good with 9:13 remaining before halftime, and Rutgers extended its lead to 21-7 on a Marcus Cooper fumble recovery in the end zone with 2:30 to go.

Matt Weller hit a 42-yard field goal at the end of the half, and the Bobcats cut their deficit to just four with a 31-yard strike from Tettleton to Donte Foster to start the second half.

But the Scarlet Knights and Sanu came right back with a 4-yard touchdown reception.

“It was pretty spectacular,” Schiano said. “He had 16 completions with over 170 yards. He just continues to impress.”

Weller’s second field goal of the game, this one from 34 yards out, made it a 28-20 game with 6:46 showing on the third-quarter clock, but Rutgers matched it with a 44-yard San San Te field goal early in the fourth quarter.

An 11-yard Dodd pass to Paul Carrezola with 5:00 minutes left in the game locked up the Rutgers victory, making it 38-20.

The Bobcats scored their final touchdown on a 10-yard pass from Tettleton to Dunlop with 1:39 remaining.

Rutgers threatened to score on its opening possession, but true freshman running back Savon Huggins coughed up the ball inside the Ohio 10-yard line. The Scarlet Knights got it back, though, in Ohio territory after a fumbled snap, to set up their first score.

Xavier Hughes intercepted Dodd on Rutgers’ next possession, leading to Ohio’s leading touchdown.

San missed a short field goal try on the Scarlet Knights’ ensuing drive, but after a Bobcats punt, the Scarlet Knights went ahead for good on the run by Huggins.

The Bobcats drove inside the Rutgers 30-yard line, but Tettleton made a bad pitch on an option run for the second Ohio turnover of the game.

After a defensive stop, Brazill fumbled on a punt return. It was recovered by Ka’Lial Glaud, who returned it 13 yards to the 2, before fumbling into the arms of teammate Cooper, who took it 3 yards from there into the end zone.

A 27-yard pass play from Tettleton to Dunlop left one second on the clock and let to Weller’s field goal that made it 21-10 at the break.

The opening touchdown of the second half was a quick strike by the Bobcats, who went 62 yards on four plays, capped by Foster’s touchdown reception.

Rutgers converted a pair of third-down plays to earn its first score of the second half, and Ohio settled for Weller’s second field goal of the game after failing to convert a third-and-1 from the Rutgers 16-yard line.

After forcing a punt, Ohio had a chance to tie with a touchdown and again was in position to do so, moving to near midfield when Ryan Boykin lost a fumble, which instead led to Te’s field goal and a 31-20 Rutgers advantage.

With the clock on their side, the Scarlet Knights went on a 13-play, eight-minute drive, converting three third downs and one fourth down, while scoring the clinching touchdown.

Ohio failed on an onside kick attempt following its touchdown with 1:39 remaining, but Rutgers recovered and ran out the clock.

Jawan Jamison gave Rutger’s a strong rushing presence with 97 yards on 29 attempts. Huggins got his first start at running back, but he had only 10 yards on five attempts while fumbling twice.

“(Jamison has) got really great vision and really great feet,” Schiano said. “He came back out of shape and had to work himself into shape. We are talking about four weeks of training camp and then another three weeks here. I think we have a good combination right now.”

Besides Sanu, no Rutgers player had more than one catch. Ohio’s attempted defense of Sanu took a blow when corner back Travis Carrie went out with a concussion in the first half.

Nine different Ohio players had catches, including seven with at least two catches. Dunlop had four for 80 yards and Brazill finished with four for 74 yards.

Boykin was limited to 11 rushes for 40 yards. Tettleton ran nine times for 30 yards.

Ohio opens Mid-American Conference play at home against Kent State next Saturday.