DETROIT - Bill Cubit needed two things to make the Western Michigan Broncos kick up their heels and gallop into the role of winners.

He needed to construct an explosive passing offense and he did so by borrowing, stealing and inventing ideas inspired from coaching stops at Florida, Missouri, Rutgers and Stanford.

And he needed a smart, strong-armed quarterback to run the show. He found that person in 6-foot-5, 228-pound Tim Hiller.

Now all he needs is a fan base that cares.

The result on the field has helped Western Michigan to a 7-2 record, which it takes into play today against Illinois. It's a game to be played before a very sparse crowd at 65,000-seat Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions.

As of Monday, only 10,000 tickets had been sold, although 32 fan buses were sold out and scheduled to roll from Kalamazoo, home of the Western Michigan campus, to Detroit, where this "neutral site" game will be played.

Even for home games, Western Michigan usually sells only two-thirds of its 30,000 seats.

Sure, Cubit would like a stadium filled with Western Michigan fans. But he knows the university is trying to sell tickets and does not sound inclined to complain.

"Yeah, we're on the western side of the state and Detroit is on the eastern side," Cubit said. "The whole university has been trying to get the alumni base over there. I don't know how well it is received.

"We've played there once before (vs. Eastern Michigan in 2005). It's a great place to play. Hopefully we can get some kind of a crowd there."

Regardless of the venue, what fans should be excited to see is the Western Michigan offense, led by quarterback Tim Hiller. So far the Broncos have been averaging 443 yards per game including 320 through the air and much of that success can be traced to the heady and efficient play of Hiller.

Hiller is completing nearly 69 percent of his throws for 2,856 yards, 28 touchdowns and just five interceptions. It's an indication that Hiller's passing skills and Cubit's offense are a perfect match.

"I was fortunate," Cubit said. "When I was at Florida I had some experience with Ernie Zampese and Lindy Infante. There's some Steve Spurrier stuff and I just tried to package it and make it real easy for the quarterback. I just tinkered with it and came up with a package. Probably the best thing I've done is stay with it."

Hiller has helped make the process easy.

"He's been tremendous," Cubit said. "If you watched film of him last year, you wouldn't even think it's the same kid. His throwing motion is so much better. His accuracy is better. His reading of defenses is better.

"And having a quarterback coach who has played in this system has really helped him. You just trust him a lot more."

That quarterback coach is Cubit's son, Ryan Cubit, who perfected his father's offense when he was the quarterback for Western Michigan. And it doesn't hurt that Hiller is a straight-A student with a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

"He's really smart, sometimes probably a little too smart if there is such a thing," the head coach said.

Hiller's efficient play immediately caught the eye of Illini head coach Ron Zook. So did Hiller's hometown of Orrville, Ohio, which is not only the birthplace of Smucker's Jam and former Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight. It's also where Zook landed his first coaching job.

"They do a really good job," Zook said. "Their offense is very similar to what Indiana does. It's from that family tree. Defensively, they do similar things to what we've seen the past few weeks (from Iowa and Wisconsin).

"They will play their tails off. Last year they beat Iowa and kept them from being bowl-eligible. The year before they beat Virginia."

Illinois would become bowl-eligible with a victory today, even though the team has tried to think beyond just a sixth victory.

In any case, it's no time to stumble in a non-conference game played in front of a mostly empty stadium.

Illini center Ryan McDonald, who hails from the state of Michigan, said he'll do his part to populate the place with fans dressed in orange.

"I have a lot of family and friends coming," he said. "I'm looking forward to playing in that building. It's a dome, and it's an NFL stadium, so it should be pretty cool. And this is a good (Western Michigan) team. We've got to go up there and take care of business."

mtupper@herald-review.com|421-7983