Notre Dame's Sam Hartman Era Kicks Off with Navy Rout

An hour before kickoff, Sam Hartman walked out of the tunnel inside of Dublin’s Aviva Stadium carrying a green rubber ball, a baseball and a BodyBlade. Before he reached the field, a member of the chain gang solicited an unusual request from a man there to assist the game’s officials. 

He wanted a selfie with Notre Dame’s new quarterback. 

Hartman obliged and then began his warmup routine. 

Perhaps this sideline crew member knew he’d be in for a busy night and wanted a pre-game photo to commemorate the sixth-year signal-caller officially becoming the new face of Notre Dame football.

Based on early results, it doesn’t seem like the fame that comes from being Notre Dame’s starting quarterback will go to Hartman’s head or overwhelm him. 

“This moment isn't big,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. “It's about him going out there and just executing.”

On Saturday night, Hartman stood in the pocket with calm and poise and dazzled in front of a 49,000-person crowd,  leading No. 13 Notre Dame to a 42-3 dismantling of Navy. He hit 19 of 23 attempts for 251 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. His 82.6 completion percentage is a career high. 

The first five drives he led in Fighting Irish uniform resulted in 360 yards of offense and five scores. 

Of course, former Notre Dame Drew Pyne also tore up Navy for a half last fall, but he succumbed to Midshipmen’s zero-pressure defense over the final 30 minutes and the Fighting Irish nearly blew a 19-point advantage. 

On Saturday, Hartman handled exotic fronts and unblocked blitzes like a pro. Notre Dame’s victory was never in doubt.

“He sees the field really, really well,” Navy coach Brian Newberry said. “He was able to ID things that we were doing really well and put the ball in the right places when he did.”

Hartman arrived in South Bend as a proven commodity, starting his 46th career game on Saturday.

His previous 45 starts came at Wake Forest, where Hartman set the ACC record for career passing touchdowns with 110 and threw for 12,967 yards, which ranks 19th all-time. 

Notre Dame got a slightly different version of Hartman on Saturday. It could be an example of what a career 59.1 percent passer is capable of with more talent around.

“​​It's easy when you have to the best tackles in the country, two guys are starting their first real big games and they played unbelievably and, obviously, Zeke at center,” Hartman said. “Then out wide, those guys made plays in space. I don’t know how many deep completions I had. It was a lot of just getting the ball into space, which is what we wanted to do.”

Balanced Ground Attack

The Fighting Irish still ran the ball 32 times for 191 yards and two scores. 

All five scholarship running backs touched the ball, led by Audric Estime’s 16 carries for 95 yards and a touchdown. 

“We wanted to rotate all of those guys, and you’ve got to be unselfish,” Freeman said. “There’s one ball and there’s a lot of talented individuals.”

Big Picture

Notre Dame outgained Navy by a 444 to 169 margin. 

It’s early, but the 2023 edition of Notre Dame could be the most complete team Fighting Irish fans have watched in years. 

“Our defense really helped us,” Hartman said. “They put us in a lot of very favorable positions.”

The Fighting Irish defense limited Navy to 3.1 yards per play and kept the Midshipmen out of the end zone. 

That’s a dramatic improvement compared to the 363 yards and 32 points Notre Dame allowed against Navy in 2022. 

“The one big thing that's a little disappointing is we didn't get any takeaways on defense,” Freeman said. “We were close, but that's something they've been really harping on, but man, they did a really good job, especially out there being exposed in certain aspects last year.”

There were a few near-mishapes as well. 

The defense almost gave up a touchdown early, when two Navy receivers beat cornerback Cam Hart and linebacker JD Bertrand downfield. Fortunately for the Irish, the receivers collided, the ball fell incomplete and Navy suffered a turnover on downs.

In the end, Notre Dame struggled to finish the shutout when Navy’s Evan Warren hit a 31-yard field goal with 3:33 remaining, but the Fighting Irish have the makings of a dominant defense that should pair nicely with their dynamic offense. 

What’s Next?

Notre Dame will stay the night in Dublin before returning stateside on Sunday. 

The Fighting Irish boast a strong chance of improving to 2-0 when they host Tennessee State next weekend at 3:30 p.m. ET. 

The Tigers are coached by Ohio State legend Eddie George and represent Notre Dame’s first-ever FCS opponent. It’s a program that finished 4-7 last year.