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But for much of Saturday night's playoff game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Green Bay Packers, it seemed as if they all revolved around a single, budding, shining star: Colin Kaepernick.

Kaepernick, justifying November's decision by San Francisco Coach Jim Harbaugh to hand the team's championship aspirations to an untested, strong-armed, second-year quarterback, dominated the field with long scrambles and pinpoint throws. He set records, kept the Packers' defense as off-balance as a slowing top, and outplayed the reigning N.F.L. most valuable player, Aaron Rodgers.

And on a cool, clear evening that may stand as the coming-out party for San Francisco's next great quarterback, he led the 49ers to a 45-31 victory and a spot in the N.F.C. championship game.

"Just a guy playing football," 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree said of Kaepernick. "Man, he's making it happen — with his feet, his arm, making plays. He's a playmaker."

The 49ers will either play the Falcons in Atlanta, or host the division-rival Seattle Seahawks at Candlestick Park next Sunday.

Kaepernick completed 17 of 31 passes for 263 yards, with 2 touchdowns and an early interception that was returned for a touchdown to open the game's scoring.

But Kaepernick was at his most damaging when he ran, not only outgaining running back Frank Gore and his 119 rushing yards. Kaepernick's 181 rushing yards were the most ever for an N.F.L. quarterback in any game, regular season or postseason.

His 56-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter broke a 24-24 tie and the Packers' spirit.

Now Kaepernick, after only seven regular-season starts and armed with the element of surprise, stands one victory from joining Joe Montana and Steve Young as the only quarterbacks to lead the 49ers to the Super Bowl.

After the game, as he heaped praise on his teammates, Kaepernick was asked if he should be categorized as a passer or a runner. "I don't like to be categorized," he said.

The 49ers reached last year's N.F.C. championship game behind the cool efficiency of quarterback Alex Smith. Midway through this season, it appeared they were headed deep into the postseason again with the same mistake-free mantra: make Smith as invisible as possible. He would control the game, manage it, but not dominate it.

But Harbaugh worried that Smith, as solid and dependable as he had become under his tutelage, was the weakest link on a roster bulging with win-now talent. When Smith sustained a concussion in November, Kaepernick stepped in and dazzled in his first start.

Harbaugh had seen enough. He kept Kaepernick in the starting role, despite Smith's 6-2 record and position as the league's top-rated passer. Debate raged in San Francisco about whether the coach had abandoned a surer and steadier approach to the Super Bowl for a much riskier one.

As if to build drama, Kaepernick's second pass Saturday was intercepted and returned 52 yards for a touchdown by cornerback Sam Shields, giving Green Bay a 7-0 lead.

But Kaepernick quickly led the 49ers 80 yards, ending the drive with a 20-yard scramble for a touchdown.

Harbaugh noted that Kaepernick has led the 49ers on a scoring drive immediately after each of his turnovers this season. "That's a rare quality," Harbaugh said. "So far he's shown that he's got that ability to come back."

The game quickly morphed into a can-you-top-this duel between the quarterbacks, an odd and unexpected intersection of two men raised in California.

Kaepernick was born in Wisconsin and moved to California's Central Valley when he was 4. But he remained a Packers fan, wearing No. 4 in high school in honor of Brett Favre.

Rodgers played collegiately across San Francisco Bay at Cal and grew up in Chico, a three-hour drive north of the Bay Area, dreaming of becoming the next Joe Montana or Steve Young.

But when the 49ers held the first overall choice of the 2005 draft, they picked Smith over Rodgers. Rodgers fell through the draft until he landed with Green Bay as the 24th pick.

The San Francisco snub has driven him since, but it ceases to define him, especially after winning the Super Bowl two seasons ago and becoming the league's most valuable player in 2011.

He found himself in the unpredictable position of having to match a player who had beaten out Smith in November — not lost to him on draft day 2005 — for a chance to advance.

Rodgers completed 26 of 39 passes for 257 yards and 2 touchdowns, with a single interception. But he spent much of the night on the sideline, watching Kaepernick captivate fans and put points on the scoreboard. The 49ers dominated time of possession.

Kaepernick's ability to enthrall was highlighted on one second-quarter possession. On a third-and-9 play at Green Bay's 24-yard line, Kaepernick scrambled up the middle, collecting 15 yards before being sandwiched by two Packers. Kaepernick stood quickly and defiantly spun the ball toward the fallen defenders, drawing an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty for taunting.

Two plays later, Kaepernick threw a pass so hard that it barely had any arc at all, landing in Crabtree's hands in the end zone.

Rodgers duplicated the scoring play moments later, firing a touchdown on a similarly slanting pass pattern to James Jones for a 20-yard touchdown.

But by the third quarter, Rodgers was stuck in a game of catch-up. And with Kaepernick in control, he never had a chance.