Eyes on: WMU QB Tim Hiller

One week after giving up 344 yards and 4 TDs to the most prolific passer in Mid-Ameican Conference history, Dan LeFevour , beleaguered Ball State now must contend with Hiller, who needs 316 yards tonight to move into third all-time on the conference list.

Hiller, who moved past Chad Pennington and Ben Roethlisberger in the past two weeks, has 10,984 yards.

Hiller also is racing LeFevour to break the conference’s career touchdowns record.

Pennington leads with 100. Hiller is next with 98, followed by LeFevour with 96. LeFevour, however, has one more regular-season game plus a bowl game. Hiller’s career likely ends tonight.

Hiller threw for five TDs against Ball State in 2005, which tied a career high..

Five Broncos have caught more than 30 passes. Robert Arnheim (653 yards, 3 TDs) is the leader, followed by Jordan White (563, 3 TDs) and Juan Nunez (435, 6 TDs).

Hiller has thrown for 2,904 and Brandon West has rushed for 1,062.

Key statistic

The NCAA doesn’t track the worst drop in victories from one season to the next, but BSU’s 11-game collapse from 12-2 to 1-10 might be unprecedented. It is the worst this decade. Rice, if it loses Saturday at Houston, will be eight games worse than last season. Four other teams, including Notre Dame (10-3 in 2006, 3-9 in 2007) saw a seven-game drop this decade.

Word up

“I tell (NFL scouts) all the time, and I think they believe it, if there’s a smarter guy in college football right now than him, I’d love to see it. What he does for us, I tell guys and they kind of look at me like, ‘Wow,’ because you don’t see it in college anymore.”

WMU coach on Bill Culbit (via Kalamazoo Gazette) on Hiller, projected as a third-round pick in the April draft.