I don't really accept the premise that Clemson's speed was winning anything during the first half on either side of the ball.
Statistically, both teams essentially played to a stalemate in the first half. Each had around 100 yards passing, and NU outgained CU by about 20 yards. The real difference maker for Clemson in the first half was our turnovers (fumble returned for TD, interception returned to our 13 leading to an easy TD). After half-time adjustments, NU outgained CU by about 115 and 30 yards (rushing and passing, respectively) largely on the back of two huge runs by Q. Without those two big runs, our 2nd half rushing yardage would have basically matched the first half. Once again, CU's only points in the second half owed primarily to our own mistakes. We had forced them to punt, and then fumbled the ball on the return giving them the ball on their 44. We followed that up with a pass interference penalty, and CU scored on the next play. The only place where CU's speed seemed to be making a significant difference was on kick/punt returns in which they outgained us by over 50 yards.
Clemson had 9 3-and-outs and only managed 3 drives lasting more than 3 plays during the entire game. Two were in the first half, and one in the second, and they got a total of ZERO points from their three long drives. We had 11 drives that lasted over 3 plays, and only 2 3-and-outs. Even so, both teams ended up even in 1st downs with 14 each. We gave up a few big yardage plays that gave them scoring opportunities that they were unable to convert into points. We stuffed them when they attempted to convert on 4th down early in the game and we blocked a field goal attempt.
Overall, I'd say that both teams stacked up against each other pretty evenly, with a slight edge probably going to Nebraska. Clemson came extremely close to winning that game if Spiller could have held on to that ball on their second to last play of the game. Given our breakdowns, we were lucky to get that win, but I'll take an ugly win over a loss any day. We owe that win to our defense, and that was consistently good throughout the entire game.