Randy Edsall talks to media 1 day after Maryland loss to Bowling Green

A day after Maryland's 48-27 loss to Bowling Green on Saturday, Randy Edsall spoke with Terrapins media on a 10-minute conference call. Here's some of what he said:

• Drive sustainment on offense is an important ingredient for helping Maryland's defense. On Saturday, Bowling Green put Maryland's defense through 105 snaps and racked up 692 yards. Maryland's offense sat and watched for 37 minutes out of 60, while the defense went through the Falcons' wringer.
• Edsall was asked what message he had for the Terrapins on the day after a loss like this one: "The message is this," he said. "Offensively, we've got to be able to throw the ball and take advantages of the opportunities we have, and we didn't do that. There were plays to be made out there on the field that we didn't make."
• Edsall lamented Maryland's struggles to convert scoring opportunities into touchdowns. "We have to take advantage of those situations that lend themselves for us to be successful," he said. The Terps had just four scoring opportunities on 14 possessions (defined as a first down at or inside the opposing 40-yard line) and averaged 5 points on those opportunities. Brad Craddock kicked two field goals, and Maryland had two touchdowns. "I knew going into this game that we couldn't settle for field goals," he said. "As we get down into the scoring zone, we've got to come away with touchdowns."
• Part of keeping drives alive? "We've got to be better on the money downs," Edsall said. Indeed, Maryland was 3 of 12 on third downs and 0 for 1 on fourth down against Bowling Green.
• Save for Will Likely's muffed punt that led to a Bowling Green score, Edsall like Maryland's special teams effort. "I thought we did some really good things on special teams yesterday," he said. "I thought our kickoff coverage team was outstanding." Bowling Green averaged just 17 yards per kickoff return.
• Expect to see Craddock handle short-distance punts more often. On Saturday, he replaced starter Nicolas Pritchard and pooched one 39 yards until it was downed at the Bowling Green 1. "Brad's going to do that for us," Edsall said.
• (If Maryland's going to regularly punt from the 40-yard line this year, well, that's not good.)
• Edsall was asked if, given a plethora of Maryland receiver drops, some of the criticism directed toward quarterback Perry Hills is unwarranted. "Guys did drop the ball, and those are the things that we're going to be addressing," he responded. Maryland's quarterback situation remains somewhat unclear.
• On Maryland's vertical passing game: "I think we have to do that, because we have to be able to have people respect us. They have to be able to respect us that way so they don't gang people up on us and we're able to run the ball," Edsall said. "We've got to be able to do that. We've got to be able to stretch it horizontally. We've got to be able to stretch it vertically. We've got to be able to run."