Alex Carder has not been kind to BG.

The junior quarterback and Third Team All-Mid-American Conference selection in 2010 has only faced the Falcons once, but was instrumental in the Broncos’ 41-7 win over the Falcons last season. In that game, he threw for 251 yards and four touchdowns.

After throwing for 3,334 yards and 30 touchdowns as a sophomore last season, Carder came into this season as one of the top quarterbacks in all of the non-automatic qualifier conferences. He entered the season on the preseason watch list for both the Davey O’Brien award and the Manning Award.

He has done nothing to prove those accolades false so far this season. He has thrown for 1,466 yards and 12 touchdowns through five games this season, three of those games coming against BCS conference teams.

Carder was instrumental in an upset win over UConn last week, throwing for 479 yards and five touchdowns. The week before, in a three point loss to No. 24 Illinois, Carder threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns.

This season, Carder’s top weapon has been senior receiver Jordan White, who is tied with Southern California’s Robert Woods for first in the nation in catches with 55, and second in the nation with 668 receiving yards. White has put up double-digit catches and 100-plus yards receiving in four of five games this season.

He also has scored five times in Western’s last three games.

White was a big part of the Broncos’ offense last season, catching 94 passes in 2010 for 1,378 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Much like last week against West Virginia, the Falcons will have to deal with an offense that has heavily neglected its run game. Western is 21st in the nation with 301 passing yards per game, but 112th in the nation with 88.4 rushing yards per game.

The Broncos have only attempted more than 30 rushes in a game once this season: 36 rushes in a 38-7 win over Nicholls State on Sept. 10.

However, the Falcons were exploited by West Virginia on the ground last week for 360 yards. In the first four games of the season, the Mountaineers had only 306 yards rushing.

The Broncos, while they haven’t had consistent rushing success this season, do have two running backs who are averaging at least four yards per carry.

Tevin Drake, a sophomore, has run the ball 40 times for 199 yards this season, an average of 5 yards per carry.

Brian Fields, another sophomore, has run the ball 28 times for 117 yards and two scores this season, an average of 4.2 yards per rush.

Western has had some struggles defensively this season, allowing 21.8 points and 349.8 yards per game. The Broncos have especially struggled stopping the run, allowing 181.8 yards per game on the ground.

Running the ball is something BG has been better at this season, sitting at 56th in the nation with 152.4 yards per game on the ground. The Falcons have also had a 100- yard rusher in four of five games  - three by Anthon Samuel and one by Jamel Martin.

While Western’s secondary has only forced three interceptions on the season, they have several solid players, led by sophomore safety Johnnie Simon.

Simon is second on the team with 38 tackles – including two for a loss and half a sack. He has one of the Broncos’ three interceptions and leads the team with four pass break-ups and five passes defended.

The Broncos have also received solid production from their defensive line. Defensive tackle Drew Nowak leads the team with six tackles for a loss, is second on the team with 2.5 sacks and is third on the team with 31 tackles.

Defensive end Freddie Bishop leads the team with three sacks, and has chipped in 5.5 tackles for a loss.