COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Nebraska’s No. 1 Man Will Be Frazier Again : Orange Bowl: Against Miami, Osborne will start quarterback who hasn’t played since being sidelined by blood clots in September.

When it came time to make the announcement , Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne was led to a concrete walkway overlooking the west end zone of the Orange Bowl. From there he could glance down at the reporters pressed together in a semi-circle at his feet and deliver the news that today is being second-guessed from one end of America’s breadbasket to the other, from Chadron to Lincoln, from Nebraska City to Valentine.

“We will start Frazier,” Osborne said, squinting into the afternoon sun.

And that was that. Tommie Frazier, who hasn’t played since blood clots sidelined him in September, who admits he isn’t in football shape, who wouldn’t even be in uniform if the NCAA had approved his request for a medical redshirt season, will start against Miami and the nation’s No. 1 defense.

Not much is at stake. Only a national championship, a seven-game bowl losing streak and perhaps a bit of Osborne’s coaching reputation.

Back in Nebraska, there are already newspaper polls asking readers to choose between Brook Berringer, the understudy who led the top-ranked Cornhuskers to seven victories, and Frazier, the preseason Heisman Trophy candidate who lasted four games before doctors discovered blood clots in his right calf.

And during Thursday’s media day, ESPN analyst Lee Corso told Osborne he couldn’t believe Frazier was the starter. Osborne basically told Corso that explains why one of them still wears a headset and the other wears makeup.

Not since the 1984 Orange Bowl, when he approved an ill-fated two-point conversion that cost the Cornhuskers a national title, has one of Osborne’s decisions been so scrutinized.

Caught in the middle of it all is Frazier, whose only mistake was bad timing and the kind of talent that makes a coach bench an undefeated Berringer.

“It’s been a strange season,” Frazier said.

Nobody is exactly sure when Frazier hurt his leg and the potentially life-threatening blood clots began to form. It might have been in the opener against West Virginia, or, as Osborne initially guessed, against UCLA a few weeks later. But this much is known: Nine plays into the game against Pacific on Sept. 24, Frazier limped off the field and wasn’t seen in uniform again.

Until now.

During his absence, Nebraska continued to win with relative ease. Berringer, who struggled through injuries of his own, led the Cornhuskers to seven victories, including an impressive 24-7 triumph over Colorado. And when Berringer was hurt, walk-on Matt Turman was quarterback in Nebraska’s victory over Oklahoma State.

Watching with mixed feelings was Frazier, who realized he was no longer indispensable.

“That’s probably one of the most difficult times I’ve had to deal with,” Frazier said. “I’ve been playing football going on 13 years now . . . and this was the first time I had to sit out or miss any type of game, whether it was because of an injury or some other type of problem I had off the field.”

At one point, and with the blessings of the Nebraska coaches, Frazier stopped attending team meetings. He didn’t go to every practice. Actually, nothing was mandatory except taking his medicine and showing up on game days.

Frazier said it was too painful at times to watch the Cornhuskers play. He felt himself becoming an afterthought, an auxiliary member of the team rather than the center of it.

“I’d see guys out there doing things I used to do,” Frazier said. “To have something taken away in an instant, that’s going to be hard for you to go out there and watch it.”

Eventually Frazier was cleared to return to practice. It happened shortly before the regular-season finale against Oklahoma. By then, Nebraska team doctors and blood clot specialists had determined that the chances of the condition returning were less than 5%, probably closer to 1%, Frazier said.

Just to be sure, Osborne consulted DeePak Gangahar, the surgeon who had operated on the Nebraska coach’s heart nine years ago. Gangahar gave his OK after a careful review of Frazier’s condition and medical history. That was enough for Osborne, who allowed the junior quarterback to return to the field.

“When (Gangahar) has your heart stopped and it’s lying out there on the table, you tend to put a lot of confidence in what he says,” Osborne said.

Even after his return, though, Frazier said he wasn’t sure that the team accepted him. After all, Berringer had helped lead the Cornhuskers to an undefeated season, a No. 1 ranking and added the dimension of a passing attack. And the last thing the team needed was a quarterback controversy.

“At first I wasn’t sure (about being accepted) because I didn’t know how the players would react to, ‘Well, he’s coming back now and I don’t think he should start because Brook has led us this way,’ ” Frazier said. “But now I can see I have the support of them, that if you’re going to be the starter, then go out there and practice like you did at the beginning of the year.”

Frazier practiced so well that Osborne soon found himself facing a decision no coach wants to make days before a national championship game. He could choose Frazier, who is the better player, but also more rusty. Or he could stick with Berringer, who had earned the respect of the Cornhuskers with those seven victories.

Osborne said he would begin grading the two players at each workout. Then he said the starting job would be determined by their play in a Christmas Eve scrimmage.

Result: Berringer and Frazier each took about 30 snaps--about half a game’s worth. Berringer moved the ball, but also threw two interceptions. Frazier didn’t commit a turnover and dazzled the coaches with his scrambling.

“He played just like he had never left,” said Turner Gill, who coaches Nebraska’s quarterbacks.

The staff vote was unanimous: Frazier.

Frazier tried to be diplomatic about the decision. He complimented Berringer on his play this season. He said he understood how it must feel. He thanked Osborne for the confidence. But it also was clear that Frazier thought he deserved his starting job back, mostly because he never thought he had lost it.

“When I went down with my injury, I was probably at my peak,” Frazier said. “Now, I don’t feel like I’ve lost anything. As a matter of fact, I think it gave me more time to prepare myself for a big game like this mentally.”

If anybody else says that after a 14-week layoff, they’re laughed off the premises. But Frazier, the probable Heisman leader before the blood clots were diagnosed and he was put on anti-coagulant medication, isn’t anybody else.

Miami Coach Dennis Erickson, not known for gratuitous hyperbole, said Frazier is the best quarterback he saw this season. So when Osborne made his decision Thursday, Erickson wasn’t surprised.

“When you have a great player like (Frazier) . . . it’s pretty hard to keep him on the bench,” Erickson said.

Of course, not everyone was so impressed. Warren Sapp, Miami’s All-American defensive tackle, did everything but yawn when told of Frazier’s playing status.

“I’m shaking,” he said.

And this from Miami safety Malcolm Pearson: “We’re still going to try to crush both of their facemasks. Don’t make no difference if it’s Marino . . . J.C. Watts, whoever.”

That’s easy for Pearson to say now. But while Miami was busy losing to Arizona in last season’s meaningless Fiesta Bowl, Frazier, only a sophomore, was this close to leading Nebraska to an Orange Bowl victory over 17 1/2-point favorite Florida State.

The Cornhuskers lost on a missed field-goal attempt, but Frazier finished with 94 yards rushing, 206 passing, a touchdown and had put the Cornhuskers in position for the game-winning attempt with a second remaining. Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward had slightly better total numbers--322 total yards to Frazier’s 300--but the Seminole quarterback needed 19 more passes to get there.

Who knows what Frazier will do this time, with another national championship in the balance.

“Last year left a little hole in what I wanted to accomplish as a college player,” he said.

This season there was a three-month gap. Frazier begins stitching Sunday. The second-guessers await the result.