Matt Canada knows what the stats look like. He just doesn’t care.

Maryland football’s interim head coach has had time to fully digest his team’s loss to No. 12 Michigan. He’s seen the film of the Terps offense being stymied time and again by the Wolverines’ smothering defense. He’s acknowledged there needs to be improvement for Maryland’s homecoming matchup this weekend against Rutgers.

But quarterback Kasim Hill’s five completions and 62 passing yards against Michigan wasn’t something Canada seemed too concerned with during his Tuesday press conference. Nor did the Terps’ offensive playcaller express any anxiety about the season-long question mark surrounding the team’s passing game.

Hill is completing less than 55 percent of his passes; the same is true of his understudy, Tyrrell Pigrome. Still, Canada doesn’t anticipate that to be a problem going forward — enough that he poked fun at any concern about it Tuesday.

“There will be a game — I don’t have any doubt in my mind — when we throw for a whole bunch of yards and we don’t run for very many,” Canada said. “That’ll be awesome, because then I’ll come in here and you guys’ll ask, ‘Oh, what happened to the running game, and why aren’t you guys running the ball?’ Right? Which is great, because that’s what you guys get paid to do.”

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Throughout the media availability, Canada dispelled the notion that stats can ever tell the whole story, especially on offense. But he said Michigan owns the nation’s top-ranked defense for a reason, and the Wolverines showed it Saturday. Maryland’s offense didn’t score until the fourth quarter, with the game already out of reach.

Michigan keyed in on the Terps’ ground game, and their passing attack didn’t pose enough of a threat to overcome it. Most of the time this year, Maryland’s running backs have carried the team to victory, and Hill hasn’t had to throw the ball with regularity.

Late in Saturday’s contest, Pigrome entered and led the Terps down the field for a touchdown, breaking off a 42-yard run. That drive came against many of the Wolverines’ backups, though, and Hill remains Maryland’s starter.

“They’re both going to play, and whoever’s playing the best in a game will play,” Canada said. “Kasim’s still starting, but Pig will still continue to play.”

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Hill’s 222 yards on 17 completions helped lift the Terps over then-No. 23 Texas in the season opener. Since then, though, he’s thrown for 356 yards in four games.

The redshirt freshman completed 10 passes in a Big Ten-opening win over Minnesota, but managed eight, seven and five completions against Bowling Green, Temple and Michigan, respectively.

“It’s not a panic for us. We’re not looking at, ‘Oh, what’re we throwing for,’” Canada said. “I have great faith in our wideouts, great faith in our quarterbacks, great faith in our pass protection.”

But on third-and-longs against the Owls and Wolverines, the Terps couldn’t produce the passes they needed. Maryland averaged 10.5 yards to gain on 25 third downs in those two games, and with Hill struggling to throw downfield, they converted just six.

“Stats are for losers,” Canada said. “On offense, I could sit there and say, ‘On second down, between the 35 and the 43, we’re the most efficient offense in the country.’ Who cares? Right? The stat that matters is if you win or you lose.”

And Saturday, Maryland didn’t win.