Ben Stille

Honors & Awards
» Campbell Trophy Semifinalist (2020 & 2021)
» Senior CLASS Award Nominee (2021)
» AFCA Good Works Team Nominee (2019, 2020)
» Wuerffel Trophy Watch List (2019, 2020)
» Honorable-Mention All-Big Ten (2021, Coaches, Media)
» Honorable-Mention All-Big Ten (2020)
» Big Ten Sportsmanship Award (2019)
» BTN All-Freshman Team (2017)
» Big Ten Freshman of the Week (Oct. 2, 2017)
» First-Team CoSIDA Academic All-District 7 (2019, 2020, 2021)
» Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (2020, 2022)
» Academic All-Big Ten (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
» Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2016, 2018, 2019; Spring 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021)
» Sam Foltz Hero 27 Leadership Award (2019)
» Brook Berringer Citizenship Team (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
» Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)

2021
Ben Stille started all 12 games in his final season, ending his career with 20 consecutive starts. He recorded a career-high 42 tackles and 6.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks with three pass breakups. Stille was selected as an honorable-mention All-Big Ten defender by the conference coaches and media. He was also honored as a first-team All-Big Ten selection by Pro Football Focus. Stille made Husker history in the classroom, as he earned a spot on the Academic All-Big Ten team, become the first six-time academic all-conference honoree in program history.

Stille made four tackles in the opener at Illinois and had a two-yard tackle for loss against Fordham, which marked his 10th consecutive start. Against Buffalo, Stille had four tackles, a half TFL and three quarterback hurries. He tied his then-career high with five tackles at No. 3 Oklahoma, including a one-yard tackle for loss. Stille made two tackles at No. 20 Michigan State. Stille recorded three tackles and a pass breakup against Northwestern. He had another pass breakup and made two tackles against No. 9 Michigan. At Minnesota, Stille recorded four tackles, including three solo stops. He tied his career high with five tackles against Purdue, when he was in on a pair of sacks, getting credited with two half sacks. Stille had two tackles against No. 6 Ohio State, including a two-yard TFL. He made four tackles and broke up a pass at No. 19 Wisconsin. Stille finished his career with a career-high six tackles against No. 17 Iowa with 1.5 TFLs and a half sack.

2020 (Senior)
Stille started all eight games at defensive end in 2020, finishing with 27 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. 

He had three tackles, including a half TFL, in the opener at No. 5 Ohio State. At Northwestern, Stille finished with four tackles. Stille made three tackles against Penn State, and he sealed the win with a quarterback hit that forced a fourth-down incompletion on the Nittany Lions’ final offensive play. Stille added four stops against Illinois before tying his then-career high with five tackles at Iowa, including his first TFL of the season. 

Stille set a career high with 1.5 sacks at Purdue, while recording five tackles for the second straight game. He made two tackles against Minnesota and had one tackle in the win at Rutgers.

Off the field, Stille earned academic all-district honors for the second straight season and was also an AFCA Good Works Team nominee and Wuerffel Trophy Watch List member for the second year in a row.

2019 (Junior)
Stille played in all 12 games as a junior with a pair of starts, totaling a career-high 31 tackles with eight TFLs and 3.0 sacks. 

He made four tackles in the season opener against South Alabama and had three more tackles - including two TFLs - the next week at Colorado. Stille made three tackles against No. 5 Ohio State before making his first start of the season against Northwestern and producing a then-career-high five tackles, including a half sack. He added two tackles the next week at Minnesota and had his first full sack of the season against Indiana. 

At Purdue, Stille made four tackles, including one sack and a pair of TFLs. He earned the start against Wisconsin and finished with three tackles, a pass breakup and a hurry. The next week at Maryland, Stille had two tackles, including a half sack. Stille concluded his junior season with three tackles against Iowa, including a nine-yard tackle for loss.

Stille’s combination of his work on the field, in the classroom and in the community earned him recognition as a junior. He was an academic all-district selection in addition to being nominated for the AFCA Good Works Team and appearing on the watch list for the Wuerffel Trophy, which is college football’s premier award for community service.

2018 (Sophomore)
Stille played in every game and started started 11 games at defensive end in 2018. He totaled 25 tackles with a career-high 5.0 sacks, leading all Nebraska defensive linemen in that category.

Stille earned his second career start in the season opener against Colorado and produced three tackles, including a nine-yard sack. Stille totaled one tackle over the next two games before recording a sack and making four tackles against Purdue. After recording a pair of tackles at No. 16 Wisconsin, Stille picked up his third sack of the season at Northwestern. He added another sack the next week against Minnesota. Stille had a nine-yard sack against Bethune-Cookman, giving him a sack in three consecutive games. He also had a career-high two pass breakups against BCU. Stille made one tackle at Ohio State and had two stops and a career-high three quarterback hurries against Illinois. He totaled three tackles in Nebraska’s win over Michigan State and made two stops in the season finale at Iowa.

2017 (Redshirt Freshman)
Stille appeared in nine games with a start against No. 9 Wisconsin during his redshirt freshman season, lining up at both defensive end and outside linebacker. He showed versatility to play both positions during the year. Stille emerged as one of the Blackshirts’ top playmakers, leading Nebraska with 10 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks as part of his 24 total tackles. He became the first freshman to lead the Huskers in TFLs since the stats began being tracked (1968) and the first freshman to lead Nebraska in sacks since the stat became official (1981). 

All 10 of Stille’s tackles for loss came during the Big Ten season, as he led all conference freshmen in that category. Overall, he ranked eighth in the Big Ten in TFLs despite playing only nine games, and Stille had four more TFLs than any other Big Ten player who appeared in fewer than 10 games. He recorded at least one tackle for loss in seven of his nine appearances and had three games with four tackles. For his performance, Stille was named to the Big Ten Network All-Freshman team and took home one weekly honor as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week, joining David Santos (2012) as the only Husker defenders to be named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week.

Stille made his career debut against Rutgers, totaling three tackles including one for a two-yard loss. Stille exploded onto the scene the next week at Illinois, registering four tackles, including three TFLs and his first career sack, which resulted in a forced fumble. He was honored by the Big Ten as the conference freshman of the week following his performance against the Illini. Stille’s performance earned him his first career start against No. 9 Wisconsin, and he made one tackle against the Badgers. He had two tackles and one sack against No. 9 Ohio State the next week and tallied three tackles, one TFL and a half-sack at Purdue. Stille made four tackles against Northwestern and broke up the first pass of his career while adding another tackle for loss. He made it four consecutive games with a TFL with a 14-yard sack at Minnesota. Stille ended his debut season with four tackles and two TFLs against Iowa.

2016 (Redshirt)
Stille sat out the season as a redshirt and worked on the scout team. 

Before Nebraska (Ashland-Greenwood HS)
Stille starred on both sides of the ball at Ashland-Greenwood High, helping Coach Ryan Thompson’s team to an 8-3 record and a trip to the Class C-1 state quarterfinals in 2015. Stille caught 26 passes for 415 yards and five touchdowns as a tight end. He was a dominant force as a defensive end, recording 79 tackles, including 46 solo stops, while adding 17 tackles for loss and nine sacks. Stille also handled kicking and punting chores, making 46-of-49 PATs and three field goals. 

Stille was a first-team Super-State choice by the Lincoln Journal Star and a first-team All-Nebraska pick by the Omaha World-Herald. He was also an honorary captain of the Class C-1 all-state teams by both newspapers. He was the USA Today Nebraska Defensive Player of the Year and made the publication’s Nebraska all-state team. 

In 2014, Stille caught 16 passes for 538 yards, an average of nearly 34 yards per reception with 10 receiving touchdowns. He also had 63 tackles, including 19 TFLs and 10 sacks, while connecting on all four of his field goal attempts. His effort helped Ashland-Greenwood to a 12-1 record and a state runner-up finish. Stille earned first-team Class C-1 all-state honors as a tight end from the Omaha World-Herald and was an honorable-mention all-state choice by the Lincoln Journal Star.

Stille helped the Bluejays to an 11-2 record and a trip to the state championship game as a sophomore. He had 41 tackles and four interceptions, while adding 10 receptions for 199 yards and three touchdowns. He also made 7-of-12 field goals. Stille was on the varsity as a freshman, helping the school to a 7-3 record and a state playoff appearance.

Stille was a wrestling standout for the Bluejays, posting a 44-0 record at 285 pounds in 2016 to win his second straight Class B state title. He had a 34-0 record and won the Class B title at 220 pounds in 2015, after posting a 35-5 record and finishing third in the state at 182 pounds in 2014. Stille also earned academic all-state honors five times.  He was ranked among the top three players in Nebraska, and was listed as the No. 33 strongside defensive end in the country by 247Sports. Stille only visited Nebraska, but had offers from Army, Iowa, Iowa State, Ohio, Vanderbilt and Wyoming.

Personal
Ben is the son of Kevin and Karen Stille, and he was born on Nov. 12, 1997. He earned his master's degree in nutrition and health sciences from Nebraska in May of 2021, after claiming a bachelor's degree in nutrition and health sciences in December of 2019. Stille is very active in the community. He has volunteered his time with the FCA, a Day of Service, pediatric brain cancer patients, the Nebraska Football Road Race, Teammates, a Unified track meet and with numerous local hospital, school and youth camps. He was a member of the Nebraska Student-Athlete Advisory Committee in 2019.