Alec Lower
Bio
College Football contributor for The Unbalanced and exemplar of sports sadness. My teams prefer to lose in the most excruciating way imaginable, but I'm still signing up to watch every Saturday for the rest of my life. NC State fan
Stories (8/0)
Grading Every FBS Coaching Hire this Offseason
Chip Kelly – UCLA – A+ This is an out-of-the-park home run for the Bruins. Kelly’s record as a college head coach is exceptional. His offensive system was virtually unstoppable at Oregon, and his reputation will carry a lot of weight in recruiting. There was always going to be a mad scramble for the services of Kelly if he decided to come back to the college game. UCLA is the big winner of the sweepstakes and the college football offseason with this hire.
By Alec Lower7 years ago in Unbalanced
Tennessee Can Do Better than Jon Gruden
Butch Jones had been a dead man walking in Knoxville for some time. Jones’ years of mediocrity followed tenures of Lane Kiffin and Derek Dooley, both of whom did their part to set the Tennessee football program back years as well.
By Alec Lower7 years ago in Unbalanced
Early Failures For Jim Harbaugh Not Indicative of His Potential
Jim Harbaugh seemed like the perfect man for Michigan. He was a record-setting quarterback for the Wolverines in the 1980s. He took over a decaying deer carcass known as Stanford football and won the Orange Bowl. He took the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl just two years removed from a 6-10 season. He was a winner, and Michigan badly needed one.
By Alec Lower7 years ago in Unbalanced
Four College Football Teams That Are Better than Their Record
These four teams are playing at a higher level than their record indicates. Florida State (2-4) Florida State isn’t remotely close to the playoff contender it was expected to be. The loss of starting quarterback Deondre Francois in the very first game did nothing to help its cause, but it’s definitely not the only reason the Noles have already lost four times. That said though, this team is still better than its 2-4 record would indicate. Its four losses have come to teams that are a combined 25-4 (Louisville accounts for three of the losses), and three of them have been by six points of less. FSU has faced a daunting schedule, made more difficult by the hurricane that canceled its tune-up game against Louisiana-Monroe. Instead of that being backup quarterback James Blackman’s first start, it was NC State and one of the best front sevens in college football.
By Alec Lower7 years ago in Unbalanced
"They Use Us as Pawns and Props" - An Interview with an American Veteran . Top Story - October 2017.
The other day, I saw a picture on Twitter of an American veteran who had lost both his legs overseas. The source of this image was a random nobody who was using his picture to say how much this veteran wished he could stand for the national anthem and that everybody else should to honor his sacrifice. Now, this person had no connection whatsoever to this soldier, but she apparently believed she had a crystal clear understanding of exactly what this man believed in. It struck me as a rather insulting assumption. This man gave his limbs for this country, and he was just getting spoken for as to what that sacrifice means.
By Alec Lower7 years ago in Unbalanced
How the SEC Became the Alabama Conference
It was the night of January 9, 2012. Alabama was atop the college football world once again after a systematic dismantling of previously unbeaten and number one LSU. That season, culminating with a title matchup of two SEC West powers for the national championship, was the high point of the Southeastern Conference’s reign over college football.
By Alec Lower7 years ago in Unbalanced