Bleacher Report - Articles by Wil Stillwell-Edler

Eight Burning Questions

Wil Stillwell-Edler — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:50:27 -0400

Yes I know that we should be getting over the Texas Tech game, and I have I promise you. What I haven't done yet quell some lingering thoughts in my head that have been there for several weeks, and finally boiled over when watching the game. This Nebraska team is good, take away a big pass play and we beat Virginia Tech. Take away the fumble return against Texas Tech and who knows how the rest of the game plays out. But if's and buts are always the losers consolation prize, and we are where we are, and with that in mind I ask these questions....

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Who Are You and What Have You Done with the Real Nebraska Cornhuskers?

Wil Stillwell-Edler — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 01:05:52 -0400

Well now, wasn't that something to see.

I, as an avid Husker fan, am thoroughly embarrassed by what transpired this Saturday. I don't really know how else to accurately describe what I was feeling as I watched the Red Raiders trounce the Cornhuskers 31-10 yesterday.

My father asked me if I thought that this loss was worse than the Virginia Tech loss earlier this year. I pondered it for a little while, but the answer is quite obvious: Yes.

The answer to why is agonizingly simple. We played hard against VT. We dominated. We left everything on the field. Against Texas Tech? Not so much.

There is a lot of blame going to be thrown around this week. From Shawn Watson to Zac Lee to Bo Pelini to the offense in general. No one will be able to hide from criticism this week. But I think that while most of the finger pointing will be justifiable, I took away one pressing thing that could have made everything better, and that was effort.

I had never seen a team like I did on Saturday. Not from Nebraska. There was no energy, no passion, no enthusiasm. People were standing around tapping their feet and staring ahead. Their heads were not in the game at all.

Perhaps it was because the fans weren't into the game? But why would they be when the players so obviously aren't? That was THE quietest I have ever heard Memorial Stadium. Forgive the old cliche, but in the third quarter, you could absolutely hear a pin drop.

And of course, one of the biggest plays of the game—the fumble return for a touchdown—could have easily been avoided if Niles Paul pulled his head out of his rear end and realized that it was a lateral.

Paul was quoted in saying that he was "almost positive" that it wasn't a lateral. I hope he is lying, because it was blatantly obvious that it was a lateral, even on the slanted view that I had while watching it on TV.

There are numerous other times when I was just sitting in my living room, shaking my head asking "What are they thinking?" but I will refrain from going on a tirade about them all. The real question is, WHY weren't their heads in the game?

I honestly don't have any idea what it could be. I have never seen a football team on any level, give up the way that Nebraska did on Saturday. There was poor execution, there was penalties galore (not that it's new or anything) and there was just a general lack of focus and energy. Did they not know what the score was?

If I had just turned the channel on in the second quarter and didn't know what the score was, I would have guessed Nebraska was up 42-0.

For some reason, it seems like this Nebraska team can't function unless there is a big play, a spark as they say. You saw it last week. Nebraska was inept offensively until they caught a break with a blown coverage and Zac Lee hit Niles Paul down the field for a quick touchdown.

After that, they played passionate, determined football, and it's sad to see them lay an egg like that Saturday, knowing the level of football they can play when they want too.

Can we move on from this? Time will tell. We still control our own destiny in the Big 12 North, but we won't win any games if we play like we did on Saturday, no matter how talented we are.

I do have faith in our coaching staff an our players to turn it around, but we better to it quickly, lest we fall victim to an underrated Iowa State team that nearly beat Kansas. I don't know what a loss to them would feel like, but I can tell you I don't have any desire to find out.

Nebraska's Win Over San Jose State Was Closer Than it Looked

Wil Stillwell-Edler — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:07:40 -0400

35-12.

On paper, it seems like a pretty good, respectable win. In person, it felt more like 17-12.

The lopsided score in no way tells the tale of how the Nebraska Cornhuskers were a mere four plays away from being down 16-14 in the fourth quarter.

Give San Jose State some better kickers and take away Niles Paul's electric 85-yard kickoff return touchdown and that would have been what Sloppy Joe Ganz and the Husker offense would have been facing. At that point I wouldn't have bet against the upset. In fact, I would have expected it.

Luckily for Husker fans around the country, things turned out okay in the end. Obviously there is a lot of work to do before the Cornhuskers face another pass happy team in New Mexico State.

And after watching what transpired on a bleak, cloudy afternoon in Memorial Stadium, I will give NMSU every chance in the world to do what San Jose State almost managed to do today.

The entire team looked sloppy and out of synch for the first 80 percent of the game, before Paul's kick return. The height of it all would probably be the three consecutive false start penalties, turning a rather attainable third-and-nine into a ridiculous third-and-24.

The miscues, however, didn't stop there. A questionable pass by Joe Ganz in his own end zone turned into an interception. After the first three plays by the Husker offense, SJS had 2 sacks.

The defense didn't show any improvement in defending the crossing routes, and looked terrible at times defending the run, and last years tackling woes were prevalent in the first half, but were thankfully improved upon in the second.

If things had gone San Jose State's way today, they could have easily won the game. They threw away seven points in the kicking game, had a turnover turned into a Nebraska touchdown, and had another turnover inside the red zone.

If none of those things happened, and Niles Paul doesn't return a kickoff for a touchdown, Nebraska could have very easily have been looking at a 34-7 fourth quarter deficit with only about 11:30 left to play.

Easily overlooked in the Huskers overall bad day, was Roy Helu Jr. He looked great in running nine times for 59 yards and a touchdown. If he doesn't start the game next week, then there is something wrong.

At the beginning of the year Bo Pelini said that each of the backs has a chance to start based on performance, and based on that performance, Roy proved he can be a big time back at the college level. Especially with the days that Marlon Lucky and Quentin Castille had.

Lucky ran seven times for 23 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown. And Castille had a terrible day of six carries for seven yards (including a touchdown) and a fumbled option pitch. The low point in the game came after that, when SJS turned that fumble into a field goal and brought themselves within two points before Nebraska broke the game open.

Overall, it was a day to forget for Husker fans other than that "W" that will go next to the score. If they want to have any chance of beating Missouri, Texas Tech, Kansas, or Oklahoma then they need to drastically improve on both sides of the ball. Hopefully Pelini will let them have it this week and they will respond and put a whooping on New Mexico State.

At this point, I'm not betting on it.

Nebraska vs. San Jose State College Football Preview

Wil Stillwell-Edler — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:17:57 -0400

Well, the college football season is officially underway. There are some programs that haven't started their season yet, but for Husker fans, the season started the way it has for the past 23 years—with a solid victory.

It wasn't the prettiest, but it was very promising and very convincing. Aside from two fourth quarter miscues by Joe Ganz, the Huskers had very little problems with the Western Michigan Broncos.

Now we turn our attention to the San Jose State Spartans. They run the new-fad spread offense and are led by a recently promoted 3rd-String transfer from Cal, Kyle Reed. The only thing that would appear to be challenging about San Jose State is... well, that they run the spread offense.

Last week the Cornhuskers gave up 342 passing yards. And while some of that is because they were behind the entire game and forced to play catchup to our amazingly explosive offense, it's still a little unsettling to watch Western Michigan players execute crossing route after crossing route to gain 10+ yards each time.

It's important to note that three of the four defensive backs that were on the field had never played before. So this week should be a lot better, but until they show that they have improved, I'd be a little anxious in the first one-and-a-half quarters of the game.

Enough about the defense, we've been talking about that all spring and fall, lets talk some offense.

Basically, if the Huskers don't score 50 points, or close too it, then there's something wrong. This offense is full of playmakers: Joe Ganz, Marlon Lucky, Nate Swift, Todd Peterson, Quentin Castille, etc. I still go to sleep at night and wonder what last year might have been if Joe Ganz had been the full-time starter instead of Sam Keller.

Ganz's mobility allows him to shine in ways that Keller could only have dreamed of. Last week he had a run of 30 yards that brought back wonderful memories of the old days, with Solich, Osborne, and Devany, the wonderful option quarterbacks of Turner Gill, Tommie Frazier, Eric Crouch, Scott Frost, and so on.

Don't let me get ahead of myself here, I'm not saying Joe Ganz is the next Eric Crouch. For one he's a much better of a passer, and second, there's no way he'll ever do this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiRv7J2f7_w) to anyone.

To sum it up. Nebraska is going to win by a lot. "A lot" is will be determined by how much the secondary improves, because, while San Jose State isn't exactly USC in terms of talent, they still have people who can run the spread offense and put up some impressive numbers. We can just hope that the only impressive numbers will be how little our defense gives up.

PS-For those San Jose State fans who can't believe I'm giving them no chance, please dont' take offense. Anything can happen (Appalachian State anyone?). But there's a reason that they're called "upsets". So please know that I'm giving them a chance, but just not enough to talk about.

Bo Pelini Needs to Show He Knows Both Sides of the Ball

Wil Stillwell-Edler — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:08:18 -0400

When Tom Osborne introduced Bo Pelini as the new head coach at the University of Nebraska, he made it clear that the reason behind his choice was first and foremost Pelini's defensive expertise.

And who can blame him? The 2007 Blackshirts gave up more than 40 points in six games for the first time ever. The last team to give up more than 40 points more than once in a season played in 1948.

It was also the first time in Nebraska's 117-year history that a Husker Squad had scored 50-plus points in a game—and lost.

Pelini's hire has been viewed by many Husker followers as long overdue, after he was rejected in 2003 by then-Athletic Director Steve Pederson in favor of Bill Callahan.

Callahan proceeded to go 27-22 in four years and posted the first two losing seasons at Nebraska since 1961. He also ended Nebraska's record streak of consecutive bowl games at 35.

Pelini, meanwhile, went to Oklahoma, where he served as defensive coordinator under Bob Stoops for two years. He then spent the last three years in the same position at LSU under Les Miles, in which his defensive units were ranked in the top three in total defense each year.

While no one will doubt the defensive genius of a man that can take a basic 4-3 Cover 2 scheme and make it one of the most feared in the game, or how his fire and competitiveness can make even an average player excel on the football field, Pelini has never had to worry about the other side of the ball—except how best to stop it.

Now that he has acquired his first head coaching position, he will have to show that he can not only inspire his defensive units and recruit top notch defensive players, but that he can do the same for his offensive players.

This is not to say that he needs to become an offensive coordinator. Shawn Watson will be handling those duties, and he does an excellent job of it. The Huskers ranked 11th Nationally in total offense, even while going 5-7.

But Pelini will need to show us crazy Nebraska fans, with all of our expectations, that he is not limited to just one side of the ball.

He needs to show that while he may not be calling the plays on offense, he knows what's going on, and can tell when someone makes a mistake enough to slap him on the butt when he comes off the field and tell him, "You'll get 'em next time, tiger."

He'll need to show that he can recruit top notch offensive players as well as defensive ones, and that he can develop them as well as he can his defensive players.

While he won't get run out of office if he doesn't become the next Tom Osborne, the critics will get louder and louder if he doesn't show improvement.

I don't doubt that he will become a great head coach. The best case scenario is that he would become the next Tom Osborne. It would certainly give stability and continuity to a school which hasn't had that in five years.

Good luck Bo. Nebraska is rooting for you.

NASCAR: What is Behind Kyle Busch's Domination?

Wil Stillwell-Edler — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 11:50:09 -0400

Even if you are a casual fan of NASCAR, you've probably noticed that this year, some kid named Kyle Busch has been downright dominating in the first half of this year's Sprint Cup season.

He has six wins, 11 Top Fives, 12 Top 10's, three poles, and an average finish of 9.9.

Not to mention, he's leading the Sprint Cup Series by a whopping 182 points over second-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. It's an even better showing than the domination Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon had last year in the first half.

That's saying something, especially considering they won a total of 16 races between them. It's unbelievable for a guy who had only won four races prior to this year.

If you remember, he was with the team giant of Hendrick Motorsports last year, the team who won a record 18 of the 36 races in the year.

That begs the question, what are the reasons for his dominance?

Is it the guidance of his new teammates Tony Stewart, and to a lesser extent Denny Hamlin?

Is it the power under the hood of the dominant Toyotas?

Or perhaps it's the ability of his Crew Chief Steve Addington to decipher his sometimes childish whining over the radio into what he needs to make his car better?

You could say that the always unpredictable Tony Stewart would be responsible for perhaps containing the also unpredictable "Rowdy" Busch, or perhaps teaching him how to let out his inner monster occasionally and mix in a show of maturity to go along with it, but let's not kid around.

While no one will doubt the talent of Tony Stewart, or that he can be a good guy at times too (the man has an impeccable record of kindness and generosity, you just have to dig harder to find it), to suggest that he groomed Kyle, or showed him how to be more of himself, is a joke.

Could it be the power of the surprising Toyotas? Drivers around the garage have said since Toyota started in 2007, that they have had a significant power advantage over the other models.

How this makes sense is beyond me. Why would NASCAR let one model have more power than the other three, when the whole reason behind introducing the CoT was to improve competition?

Perhaps the ultra-talented Kyle Busch is just taking advantage of what he didn't have at Hendrick Motorsports. Therein lies the paradox, what doesn't Hendrick Motorsports have?

It won 18 races not even a year ago; all anyone could say was that Hendrick was miles ahead of anyone, which was why they won so many races.

Then why did Kyle Busch, who everyone has always said was full of talent, the way he can drive a loose race car that would have anyone else spinning as soon as they turned the wheel?

You could perhaps say that Hendrick fell victim to the old "Competition breeds innovation" and simply didn't continue to research and develop the CoT in the off-season as much as Gibbs, Rousch and the other teams.

Yet, they have been competitive all year long; they just haven't had the luck to go along with their success (Jeff Gordon being spun at Las Vegas and Daytona come to mind as examples).

So does that mean that Crew Chief Steve Addington is the whole reason behind "Rowdy" Busch's domination this year in Sprint Cup? I say yes. But how?

The man had never been atop the pit box during a Cup race. His experience all came in the Nationwide Series with unimpressive drivers Mike Bliss and Jason Keller. But the relationship with a driver and his crew chief is the key to anyone's success. This is the perfect example.

Alan Gustafson is one of the better Crew Chiefs in the Sprint Cup garage, and has been atop a pit box since 2005. But Kyle Busch isn't going to radio in "My car's loose, I think I need a few rounds of wedge to tighten her up." You'll more likely hear "My car's junk."

Who in their right mind, would have any feasible idea of what to do to a car with that information? Well, the answer would be in the results Kyle keeps showing us.

Steve Addington may not be the best crew chief around, he might not even be a "top tier" crew chief, but what he is best at is understanding what Kyle Busch needs to make his car faster than anyone else. And that is all that matters.

People may flock to the guy who can calculate fuel mileage better than the next guy, but if he doesn't know what do to when his driver complains over the radio, he will never been in a position to calculate how many laps short his driver will or won't be at the end of the race.

With technology is at the forefront of any conversation, having chemistry between Crew Chief and driver is often overlooked as an important part of a successful race team.

Before this year is over, that won't be the case any longer. Kyle Busch and Steve Addington are proving that just because you aren't a master with a calculator, doesn't mean that you won't win any races.