Running back D.J. Adams rushed for 64 yards and two touchdowns Saturday against West Virginia.

As the Terrapins football team’s ineptitude in the red zone against Miami nearly cost it a season-opening win, all D.J. Adams could do was watch.

The sophomore running back had made a name for himself as a short-yardage back last season, scoring a team-high 11 touchdowns in a breakthrough year.

But after an undisclosed violation of team rules left Adams suspended for the Miami game, the Terps were left looking for answers in the red zone. They had no trouble getting there — the team posted nearly 500 yards en route to seven trips inside the 20-yard line — but the meager 19 points that came of those drives became a story itself in the 32-24 win.

With Adams’ return in Saturday’s loss to No. 16 West Virginia, though, came a resurgence in the red zone. The bruising running back rumbled for 64 rushing yards and two red-zone touchdowns to help pace an improved ground game as the Terps fell to the Mountaineers, 37-31.

“It was good to get back out there, definitely,” Adams said. “It’s one of those things you dream about all offseason, and then with the bump in the road in the Miami game … it was rough.”

Adams’ return not only revamped the Terps’ red-zone performance — they scored on five of six red-zone trips Saturday, including four touchdowns — but also lent the team much-needed depth in the backfield.

Running back Davin Meggett shouldered much of the load against Miami in Adams’ absence, and though he rushed for 95 yards against the Hurricanes, he grew noticeably fatigued as the game wore on.

Against West Virginia, it was a different story. With Adams and true freshman Justus Pickett each seeing plenty of time, the shifty senior ran for 114 yards and a touchdown, averaging nearly 6 yards per carry, and also hauled in four passes from quarterback Danny O’Brien.

Adams’ return also gave the Terps a change of pace in the backfield. The 5-foot-10, 220-pounder runs downhill and hits the hole hard, and the 1-2 punch he forms with the more east-west Meggett keeps opposing defenders on their toes.

“D.J.’s going to put his nose down and make you hurt if you hit him,” tackle R.J. Dill said Tuesday. “He added another dimension to our ability to keep our running backs even more fresh, and I think that was something that helped us a lot. Davin was able to run the ball harder in the second half, as well as D.J. and even Justus.”

While Adams remains third on the team’s depth chart, Saturday’s game suggested coach Randy Edsall will likely still turn to him where yards are toughest to come by.

It makes sense. Adams has shown an obvious nose for the end zone, an innate ability to gain the tough yards. His 11 rushing touchdowns last season averaged 4.0 yards per score, and only one — a 23-yard run against FCS opponent Morgan State — came on a gain of more than 6.

How he does it, though, is a question neither Adams nor his teammates can answer.

“Once he’s down there, he finds the end zone somehow,” wide receiver Kerry Boykins said. “He can go in sideways, forward, backward, on his head. Somehow he just gets in the end zone.”

“I’ve actually thought about that, it’s just one of those things. I don’t know, really,” Adams said. “I wish I knew.”

With Meggett continuing to produce, Adams’ role as the team’s short-yardage back seems all but entrenched. But he’s hoping — and showing — he might be capable of more.

The Norcross, Ga., native came to College Park as a four-star recruit after rushing for nearly 1,600 yards as a high school senior, and his big-play potential was evident against West Virginia. He had three runs of 11 yards or more, a welcome departure from his bread-and-butter style on a day that marked his long-anticipated return from suspension.

“He’s got good quickness, he’s got the ability to make people miss, and he’s got some burst and some explosion. It was good to have him back,” Edsall said. “As we see things, maybe he could get some more touches in the upfield stuff.”

cwalsh@umdbk.com