Year in and year out, New Year’s Day is a day in which college football takes center stage. The day provides an opportunity for the sport’s best teams to showcase their skills on a national stage. Jan. 1, 2014, the last New Year’s Day under college football’s current postseason structure, certainly lived up to the hype. Here are five of the best performances from Wednesday’s bowl games:

1. Connor Shaw, QB, South Carolina

The University of South Carolina scored a 34-24 win over the University of Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl on Wednesday afternoon, capping an 11-win season for the Gamecocks. A good chunk of South Carolina’s success in 2013-14 has been courtesy of senior quarterback Connor Shaw, and the bowl game was no different. Shaw made Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando, Fla. his Magic Kingdom on Wednesday, accounting for all five Gamecock touchdowns in the win. Shaw was 22-of-25 passing for 312 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, and also scored a rushing touchdown. To top it all off, Shaw caught a touchdown pass on a trick play pass from junior wide receiver Bruce Ellington. Often ignored in the national college football lexicon, Shaw ensured his legacy with an MVP performance in the Capital One Bowl.

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/statuses/418490402144940032

2. Blake Bortles, QB, and Storm Johnson, RB, Central Florida

No one believed in the Knights – the University of Central Florida was a 17-point underdog coming into the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on Wednesday night. Quickly, junior quarterback Blake Bortles and junior running back Storm Johnson proved the world wrong. Bortles, who quietly led UCF to an 11-1 season, passed for 301 yards and three touchdowns in a 52-42 triumph over Baylor University. Bortles also ran for a touchdown, and Johnson scored three rushing touchdowns. The duo allowed Central Florida to outgain the high-powered Baylor offense, 556 yards to 550. Because of Bortles and Johnson, the cloud of doubt surrounding UCF has largely disappeared.

https://twitter.com/cbfowler/statuses/418632544347631617

3. Quincy Enunwa, WR, Nebraska

Based on the current arrangement of bowl tie-ins by conference, there are three Southeastern Conference vs. Big Ten Conference games on New Year’s Day. A side effect of such scheduling means that a game such as the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl could be referred to as a ‘mediocre matchup.’ Don’t tell that to senior wide receiver Quincy Enunwa of the University of Nebraska. Enunwa caught a college football-record 99-yard touchdown pass for one of his two scores in a 24-19 Gator Bowl triumph over the University of Georgia. Late in the third quarter, Nebraska freshman quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. was tackled inside of his own one-yard line. The ensuing play, he dropped back into the end zone, and found Enunwa streaking down the left sideline:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWZzoJJMObM

ESPN2 color analyst Ed Cunningham stated on the game broadcast that it would be impossible to begin an offensive play any closer to the end zone, making the Armstrong-to-Enunwa connection the longest possible pass touchdown in college football history.

4. Bruce Ellington and Shaq Roland, WRs, South Carolina

Much of South Carolina’s success is due to Shaw, discussed above. However, junior wide reciever Bruce Ellington had quite the day of his own. The two-sport (he also plays basketball for South Carolina) star accounted for three touchdowns – two receiving and one passing. Ellington finished his New Year’s Day afternoon with six catches for 140 yards. Sophomore wide reciver Shaq Roland also had six catches for 112 yards, many of the catches coming in highlight-reel fashion. This receiving duo routinely kept drives alive for the Gamecocks and proved the perfect compliment to Shaw’s banner day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1hPl7wb_Ys

5.   Connor Cook, QB, Michigan State

Michigan State University sophomore quarterback Connor Cook burst onto the national stage by knocking off the No. 2 Ohio State University Buckeyes on Dec. 7 in the Big Ten Championship game. For an encore, Cook led his Spartans to a victory over Stanford University in the “Granddaddy of them All,” the Rose Bowl Game. Cook bounced back from an interception returned for a touchdown in the second quarter to throw for 332 yards, a career-high. Cook was 22-of-36 with a pair of touchdowns in the victory, and made his name known going forward. Will the Spartans remain on the national stage in 2014? If they do, Cook will be a key for it.

https://twitter.com/rosebowlgame/status/418592249161596928