Once Maryland football interim head coach Matt Canada had concluded his opening statement in his postgame press conference Saturday, he looked down at the stat sheet on the table in front of him.

At his weekly presser five days earlier, Canada had said he was “not a big stat guy.” But as he read the numbers on the page from the Terps’ dismal 35-14 loss to Temple — 63 passing yards, one third-down conversion and zero offensive points scored — he rubbed his forehead and shook his head slightly before looking up at the assembled reporters once more.

There’s no ignoring a statline that looks like that, and Canada held himself accountable throughout his first press conference as a losing head coach.

“I did a bad job as the offensive coordinator,” Canada said. “We didn’t do anything on offense today, so I take full responsibility for this loss. We didn’t play well enough, so I would say I didn’t coach well enough on offense.”

[Read more: With each Maryland football game, Matt Canada adjusts to on-field coaching]

Behind an offense that managed two first downs heading into the fourth quarter, Maryland had little chance of beating the Owls. Special teams and defensive touchdowns avoided a shutout for the Terps in front of an announced 32,057 fans — the fewest for a Maryland home opener since 2012.

Before Canada even fielded a question Saturday, he said the loss was his fault six times during his opening remarks. Despite his role as interim head coach, Canada has maintained that he’s still the offensive coordinator. He stood by that role Saturday, even when his unit of expertise gained about a third of what it did against Bowling Green last weekend.

[Read more: Matt Canada is still finding his footing as Maryland football’s interim head coach]

Canada was effusive in his acceptance, taking the sort of responsibility former coach Randy Edsall shirked for the same kind of loss during his first season at Maryland in 2011, when the Owls demolished the Terps, 38-7.

“Some of our guys felt that even though we were 1-1, we thought we were better than we were,” Edsall said after the 2011 game. “When you go out on the field we should expect to win and not take anyone for granted.”

In his presser on Saturday, Canada jumped in to answer a question directed toward defensive lineman Jesse Aniebonam and defensive back Darnell Savage, defending his players’ effort level before once again shifting the blame for the loss onto himself.

“[We knew that] once we put it all together, we can beat anybody,” Owls defensive lineman Michael Dogbe said. “We just got back to our process, did simple things like coming in watching extra film, doing all the little things and it turned out to a victory.”

The Terps were without starting tackles Derwin Gray and Damian Prince due to injury, nearly eradicating the jet sweep from Canada’s playbook. Without the Terps’ best edge-setters, their run-heavy offense couldn’t go outside the tackles.

But Canada said their absence had “no bearing” on the outcome and it was instead because he “didn’t coach well enough.”

The Terps’ ineffective offense forced their defense to remain on the field. Temple had 13 more minutes of possession than Maryland.

“We were doing everything that we could, and the offense was doing everything that they could,” Aniebonam said. “It just came down to effort at that point.”

With running backs Lorenzo Harrison and Jake Funk also sidelined, the Terps’ rushing attack, which posted 444 yards last week, gained 132 yards against Temple.

Quarterbacks Kasim Hill and Tyrrell Pigrome didn’t pose much of a threat through the air, so Temple’s safeties creeped toward the line of scrimmage, and the Owls stacked the box. Hill finished 7-for-17 passing, while Pigrome completed 1 of his 4 attempts.

In the first quarter, Hill was sacked three times and connected on just two passes. But that, too, was “probably just bad coaching by me,” Canada said.

Was Hill holding onto the ball too long? “Possibly,” Canada admitted.

But that was as far as he was willing to go before reiterating that Saturday’s offensive futility should be attributed to his playcalling rather than his playmakers.

“I’m not sure I’ve been around a game like this on offense, but it falls directly on me,” Canada said. “Credit to Temple, and everything else falls on me.”