Columbia, Mo. ? Damien Nash is starting to show glimpses of the big-play potential Missouri coaches have long envisioned.

In Saturday’s 21-16 loss at Colorado, the Missouri backup tailback turned a short pass from Brad Smith into a 48-yard touchdown. He led all Missouri receivers in that game with four catches for 63 yards.

The Tigers (6-3, 2-3 Big 12 Conference) play host to Texas A&M (4-6, 2-4) Saturday in Columbia.

In contrast to starter Zack Abron, Nash is more finesse than power. Abron uses his 5-9, 225-pound frame to blast through opponents; Nash uses his slightly taller and leaner frame to dance through holes and defenders, using speed and agility instead of power.

Nash has carried 58 times for 234 yards, a 4.0 average. His best game was against Ball State, when he rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown.

“I love to dance,” Nash said. “I love to make a defender miss and sometimes I like to run a move. I’m a good dancer off the field, too.”

There’s little resemblance in either appearance or style, but Nash and Abron are cousins. Abron, a senior, has helped the sophomore Nash learn the ways of the Big 12.

“It is his first year playing in Division I-A,” Abron said. “I just try to help him out as far as being patient with his run reads. He’s going to be a great back here at Mizzou.”

Playing in Division One is hard enough. Nash is doing it after missing a year and a half while rehabilitating a serious knee injury, a torn right anterior cruciate ligament suffered on the kickoff of his first college game at Coffeyville Community College.

Missouri running back Damien Nash leaps over a Texas Tech defender in this file photo. Nash, seen Oct. 25 in Columbia, Mo., has emerged as a rushing complement to Zack Abron for the Tigers this season.

In high school, Nash was one of the top running backs in the country, rushing for 5,395 yards and scoring 95 touchdowns. He enrolled at Missouri in the 2003 winter semester, working through his injury during spring practices.

Coach Gary Pinkel said Nash was just returning to pre-injury form. He expects big things from Nash during the rest of this season and the years to come.

“I think it’s been very frustrating for Damien,” Pinkel said. “You’ve seen him slowly get better and better and better. You saw him catch that screen pass (against Colorado) and that’s the guy, that’s the guy you saw in high school.

“You’ve got to understand that he was a superstar in high school. He could go out there and that’s his canvas. When he got the ball in his hands he could do just about anything you want him to do.”