Sam Hartman Let It Fly in Notre Dame Stadium Debut
Welcome to Notre Dame.
Sam Hartman won the locker room, learned the traditions and even played a game in Ireland for the Fighting Irish, but the 6-foot-1, 212-pounder had yet to experience Notre Dame Stadium.
Box checked.
Hartman completed 14-of-17 for 194 yards and a total of three touchdowns in the 56-3 win over Tennessee State. Perhaps his only miss came during his first players walk as the team walked from mass to the stadium.
“It was surreal,” stated Hartman. “Doing mass - a lot of guys said it was one of the bigger crowds they’ve seen on the walk. For me, it’s all big. I got to see my parents. I missed them so my mom is probably mad at me that I didn’t give her a hug. Hopefully, we’ll make up for that at some point.
“I think this experience, process for me has been so cool. We have a lot of ball left to play and a lot of moments and memories still to make. And obviously a very historic event for Notre Dame and TSU as well. Those guys played really, really hard. It was a cool moment for our team, myself and especially Notre Dame.”
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman was also giddy at times during his press conference following the victory. It wasn’t because Hartman carved up Tennessee State as much as he knows his team has a quarterback after going through a year of subpar play.
There was no better reflection than Freeman using timeouts at the end of the first half to ensure his offense got the ball back, which is a move he likely wouldn’t have done a last fall.
And it paid off as Hartman went 80 yards in 38 seconds going 6-for-6 as he found Holden Staes for a four-yard touchdown strike.
“Yeah, he's pretty good,” laughed Freeman. “I don't want to tell him that too often. Sometimes when you don't have that confidence in your quarterback, you're not going to call time-out, you're
going to say, let the clock run out, let's get out of this half and go to the locker room.
“I wanted to get the ball in Sam Hartman's hands to run our offense in that two-minute situation because I've seen it over and over, him go out and execute. He did it last week; he did it again this week. I have the utmost confidence if we have probably at least 20 to 30 seconds on the clock before half, I'm going to call a time-out and try to get the offense the ball.”
Hartman was quick to credit his offensive line and his tight ends, who recorded four of the five receptions on the drive, including three by Mitchell Evans.
”It starts up front,” explained Hartman. “I know I said that last week, but it really does. Our coaching staff, Coach Freeman and Coach Parker understand the ability our offensive line has to protect when we need them. Honestly, the guys can create space and get open on the outside at the tight end position and you saw the running backs too. Shoot, we checked the ball down and Steve Angeli is throwing 70-yard bombs and they’re pretty easy bombs to me.
“It was great to see. We hadn’t been in that situation where we could really let it fly and drive and put something together in a two-minute fashion going into the half. Again, those are important in a lot of games. It was great to get some work at it.”
Notre Dame also won’t have to worry about Hartman getting a big head in his new environment as he’s been there and done that. Well, maybe not in this much of a spotlight, but Hartman knows he can’t get caught up in the hype as a road trip to NC State is on the horizon.
“That’s the quarterback position,” Hartman said of becoming Notre Dame’s favorite son. “It’s greatly appreciated. It’s something you know is fleeting and I think that’s something I’ve learned in the good and the bad. I would say as a rule of thumb, never lean on it or get caught up in it because it will go away very quickly.”
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