Running back Justus Pickett, center, ran for a career-high 82 yards and his first collegiate touchdown on 14 carries Saturday in a 28-3 victory against Towson.

Justus Pickett arrived in College Park as the final member of the Terrapins football team’s 2011 recruiting haul.

A third of the way into his freshman season, Pickett’s already surged to the head of his class.

The true freshman running back has appeared in all four games for the Terps, and after a breakout performance in Saturday’s win over Towson, Pickett appears primed for more action.

“From the day that he came in here, he’s come in and done all the things that we’ve asked and tries to do everything the way that we want it done,” coach Randy Edsall said at his weekly press conference yesterday. “What he’s done, he’s put himself in a position to earn more playing time. That’s how we’re going to do things around here. Guys go out and perform? Guess what, you’ve earned the right to be on the field a little bit more.”

Edsall indicated that Pickett’s increase in playing time will likely come at the expense of sophomore running back D.J. Adams, last year’s No. 2 back.

While Adams rumbled 15 yards for the Terps’ first touchdown Saturday, he received only two more carries, and Edsall expressed disappointment in his performance after the game.

Pickett, meanwhile, who was not available to comment, broke through against the Tigers with a career-high 82 rushing yards and his first-ever touchdown, seemingly establishing himself as the change-of-pace option behind starting running back Davin Meggett.

“You’ll probably see Justus a little bit more,” Edsall said. “Going forward, it might be a situation where we’ll just be using those two and maybe [freshman] Jeremiah [Wilson] on third down.”

Considering Terps quarterback and fellow North Carolina native Danny O’Brien’s heavy push for Pickett to join the Terps last winter, it’s no surprise the team’s signal caller is comfortable with the freshman in his backfield.

“When he’s out there, we whatsoever,” O’Brien said. “He’s the real deal. People knew that [by] the middle of [training] camp. … I think he brings a lot of energy to the offense.”

ROAD TEST

More than a month after their season began, the Terps will enter a stadium other than Byrd Stadium for the first time Saturday when they play at No. 13 Georgia Tech.

For a roster rife with inexperience — the Terps have 14 freshmen on their two-deep — the team’s first road test at Bobby Dodd Stadium will present a unique challenge.

“We’ll play crowd noise at practice on Wednesday and Thursday,” Edsall said. “We’ll make it loud so, from a communication standpoint, our kids will be used to it.

“All I tell the kids to do is to focus on what happens between the lines. It’s us against 55,000 people. That gets the competitive juices flowing.”

Some of the team’s veterans, like defensive tackle Joe Vellano, said the team’s season-opening, prime-time game against Miami on Labor Day served as an eye-opener for the Terps’ youngsters.

“You’re probably not going to get that much more of a hype game than we had against Miami,” Vellano said. “That’s a huge game to already have under your belt.”

THIRD-DOWN WOES

As the Terps enter a trying stretch in their conference schedule with their dreams of an ACC Championship intact — they’re still 1-0 in conference play — they know they must bolster their performance on third down on both sides of the ball.

The Terps’ offense has converted just 37.7 percent of its third downs to this point in the year. Boston College is the only ACC squad with a lower conversion rate.

Defensively, things are worse. The Terps rank last in the ACC, with opponents converting on 48.2 percent of their third downs.

As a result, the Terps have lost the time-of-possession battle handily in each of their first four games.

“We’ve tried a little bit of everything,” Edsall said. “We’ve just got to get better … at executing the things that we’re calling. It’s got to get a whole lot better.”

With one of the nation’s best, and most time-consuming, attacks awaiting them Saturday in Atlanta, the Terps will have to change that trend if they hope to hang with the Yellow Jackets.

“Every week, you want to convert on third downs, but I think it’s magnified now,” O’Brien said, “because when you punt the ball, you never know when you’re going to get it back.”

cwalsh@umdbk.com