One whole month, a team sits around waiting for a New Year’s Day bowl game. That might be as good an argument as any for playoff system, that teams gaining momentum at the end of the year keep it, and don’t lose it through the course of what amounts to a second fall camp.

That said, bowl season tends to bring most teams full circle. Hurt guys get healthy. Healthy guys polish up mistakes. Offenses, with a full season of knowing what works and what doesn’t, perfects the plays that do work. Defenses hone in on weaknesses and work on becoming more exotic, more dangerous.

The preparation and relaxation period tends to favor a team’s best players – the big names, if you will. Bowl games often become a spotlight – or just the opposite – for quarterbacks, who shine or fail to shake off the rust. Nebraska’s bowl history is full of such memorable QB games – Tommie Frazier in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl, Scott Frost in the 1998 Orange Bowl, Steve Taylor in the 1987 Sugar Bowl – and a couple not-so-memorable ones, too.

Bowl games also provide that defensive player who had been nursing injuries for half of the season the chance to dominate an opponent, the way Nebraska defensive end Mike Rucker did, for example, in the 1998 Holiday Bowl. Or the way NU’s entire defense did against a pretty good Michigan State offense in the 2003 Alamo Bowl.

So here are eight players – you know em and love em – from Nebraska and Clemson who should play the biggest roles in Thursday’s Gator Bowl. How they’ll play, we’ll just see. But these are the luminaries, so to speak.

Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz: Clemson might not be the fastest defense Ganz plays this year, but it’ll be very close. There are three or four legitimate NFL guys on the Tigers side, and they’re not going to play the “ole!” defense of Iowa State or even Texas Tech. Ganz will have to be precise. And smart. He can’t get cute when he’s under pressure, either. Just throw it away, Joe.

Clemson running backs CJ Spiller and James Davis: The more you watch of these two, the more their skillset says “ten-year NFL vets.” Both of them square their shoulders to the line of scrimmage. Both of them know how to gain five yards – which is a greater attribute than always trying bust one for 50. And neither make a lot of negative plays. Davis, in particular, is a tough-nosed dude, the kind of player you see gashing through holes in an NFL West Coast Offense.
Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh: I’m not sold this kid is coming back for his senior year. Sorry. Suh has enough size and burst to be an effective NFL pass rusher right now, if he’s placed in a good scheme. Suh was always smart and nasty enough; now, he has the confidence that he can dominate a game. When a defensive lineman gets that mentality – yeesh.

Clemson safety Michael Hamlin: Prototypical size – 6-3, 225 – good brains, sure tackler. Hamlin is the quarterback of CU’s defense, solid in run support and he’s got a good nose for the football. Like most safeties, he’s quick enough to the trigger on running plays that he can beaten by a tight end or receiver at the right moment.

Nebraska running back Roy Helu, Jr: Here’s the real question surrounding Helu: Will Nebraska use like it should, or will offensive coordinator Shawn Watson shuffle through his I-Pod of plays and find equal time for Marlon Lucky and Quentin Castille? We should hope not. Helu is a guy who gets better as the game progresses, a durable, well-conditioned running back whose best attribute is his creativity in the open field. Helu should get the ball 25 times, at least. Will he?

Clemson linebacker Kavell Connor: Active weakside linebacker who will be out there lurking in Joe Ganz’s blind spot. Cleans up on running plays. The Huskers will struggle to run wide, and the bubble screens won’t be a walk in the park, either.

Nebraska receiver Nate Swift: He’ll get challenged in this game as much as he has been all season. Clemson has two good corners, and I suspect the Tigers will try to take Swift away and make Ganz find secondary receivers. Swift will just have to be crafty and use his size against the skilled – but shorter – CU secondary. Once upon a time, you’d expect Nate to disappear in a game like this. Not anymore. The kid fights for five or six catches, and he doesn’t drop anything.

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