Boxing was enormously popular when I was growing up, arguably surpassed by only the NFL and major league baseball among professional sports. Before a big match newspapers would run what was called the Tale of the Tape, which would compare the two boxers’ height, weight, biceps, reach and so forth.
What got me thinking about the Tale of the Tape?
Why this weekend’s Duke-Notre Dame game, trying to see if there’s a position group where one team has a significant advantage.
On paper at least it seems like every Duke strength is countered by a Notre Dame strength. And vice-versa.
Duke’s Riley Leonard is one of the nation’s top quarterbacks. But so is Notre Dame’s Sam Hartman. And Hartman has a big experience advantage. He’s two years older than Bryce Young for crying out loud. Two years ago Hartman was leading Wake Forest to the ACC title game, while freshman Leonard was backing up Gunnar Holmberg.
Then again Leonard is ranked higher than Hartman on NFL draft boards. There’s a reason Hartman is still in college at age 24.
Assuming Jaylen Coleman is back to speed, Duke has a deep stable of running backs. But the same can be said about the Irish. Duke has one of the best offensive lines in the ACC. But Notre Dame has one of the best in the country, led by presumptive top-10 plck Joe Alt, a left tackle. Duke loves its secondary, deep, experienced, aggressive, talented enough to challenge Hartman. But Notre Dame’s secondary is considered to be among the nation’s best, good enough to pose significant challenges for Leonard.
And so forth.
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