Or at least an entire offseason.

“I’m excited to get back on the field,” Nichol said after practice Friday. “It kind of felt like we had so much time off, it’s like starting a new season.”

Nichol said he and MSU (11-1) took almost an entire week off before getting back on the practice field this week to prepare for a matchup against No. 15 Alabama (9-3) in the Capital One Bowl on New Year’s Day in Orlando, Fla.

A typical day of football consisted of more than just practice, but also film study and other activities, Nichol said.

And with the usual grind of a 12-week season taking up so much time, Nichol said it was strange to not have any football-related activities.

“You’re so used to going every day, watching film every day,” Nichol said. “Then when you take five days off, it feels like you’re starting over.”

Now that the Spartans are back on the practice field and in the film room, they have their focus on the Crimson Tide, which is led by former MSU head coach Nick Saban and last year’s Heisman Trophy winning running back Mark Ingram.

Sophomore running back Edwin Baker said the time off was nice, but now the Spartans need to take advantage of the near month they have to get ready for the defending national champion and preseason No. 1.

“It’s important,” Baker said. “We need that extra work to prepare for this type of team. It’s like a BCS game, and having that long preparation will make this game even more special.”

Along with preparing for the bowl opponent, coaches often use the extra practice during the month before a bowl game to give players who don’t get as many repetitions during the season a chance to get some extra work.

Junior quarterback Kirk Cousins is in his second year as a starter, but during the 2008 season, when he was a back up to Brian Hoyer, he said he appreciated the chance for more practice.

“I can remember being out here and not knowing what I was doing,” Cousins said. “But when you learn like that and make mistakes and learn form them, you can turn on the tape and watch it instead of sitting at home on your butt on Christmas break,.”

The Capital One Bowl will mark the fourth consecutive bowl appearance for MSU under head coach Mark Dantonio. And although the goal of reaching a bowl is not to be able to practice, Cousins said he knows how important an extra month of work can be, whether it’s as a starter or scout team player.

“It’s been huge to have bowl practices for all of our young players to develop,” Cousins said. “And I think one of the reasons we’re 11-1 this year, is because we’ve had young players in the past, who are now experienced players and got better during bowl practices and the offseason.”