Irish QB Hartman Gets His Shot at Road Redemption Versus NC State
Sam Hartman gets a shot at redemption when No. 13 Notre Dame (2-0) travels to North Carolina State (1-0) on Saturday.
“I played there last year,” Hartman said regarding the upcoming matchup. “It's a very hostile environment. Their fans are going to bring it. They're not going to like us.”
In that game, he produced one of the most disappointing outings of his Wake Forest career inside Carter-Finley Stadium. He went 29 for 48 (60.4%) for 397 yards, two touchdowns and three costly interceptions in a 30-21 loss to North Carolina State on Nov. 5.
The Wolfpack’s 3-3-5 defense swarmed the Demon Deacon backfield, recording four sacks and 30 pressures.
Linebackers Drake Thomas and Isaiah Moore inflicted most of the damage to Hartman, combining for 19 tackles, 5.5 TFLs, 12 pressures, three sacks, a quarterback hit and a pass deflection.
The offense also suffered several presnap miscues amidst the ruckus environment, earning five false start penalties.
“We’re a team that cannot turn the ball over, and we turned it over too many times tonight and had too many penalties,” Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said after the loss. “It was one of those games where we never really got into a rhythm.”
Fortunately for Hartman, both Thomas and Moore left for the NFL, but there are still three defensive backs on the roster who’ve already picked off a Hartman pass: free safety Jakeen Harris and cornerbacks Aydan White and Shyheim Battle.
White might be the best player on the North Carolina State roster.
On3 ranked him as the nation’s No. 40 overall player and sixth-best corner. The First-Team All-ACC performer finished last fall with 46 tackles, 13 passes defended (31st) and four interceptions (22nd). He played 482 coverage snaps without allowing a touchdown and limited opposing quarterbacks to a 42.6 NFL passer rating, per Pro Football Focus.
In 2022, Hartman threw White’s way often last year with little success, going 4-9 for 43 yards, an interception and a 19.4 NFL passer rating. Most of Hartman’s production against White came on a 28-yard pass to wide receiver Jahmal Banks on third-and-long.
Battle is a four-year starter who’s long at 6-foot-2. He’s coming off a 2022 season where he totaled 34 tackles, five breakups and two interceptions.
Over the course of three games, Hartman has had a little more success in this matchup, completing 10 of 22 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown.
Of course, Battle also picked off Hartman once to go along with three PBUs.
“Their two cornerbacks are going to be as good as you see,” Freeman said, “So we know that will present a huge challenge.”
Harris started in N.C. State’s 24-14 week 1 victory over UConn. He recorded two tackles but only played five snaps.
In 2021 and 2022, the Wolfpack allowed 6.0 and 6.4 yards per pass attempt, ranking them seventh and 19th, respectively.
It’s no wonder Hartman is 1-2 overall in three career starts against the Wolfpack, completing 54.9% of passes for 7.1 yards per attempt, six touchdowns and six interceptions. He’s been sacked a total of 13 times and pressured an average of 26 times per contest.
With 28 carries, he also has eight rush yards and a score.
“I've always said there's no substitution for experience,” Freeman said. “His experience, no matter good or bad, (Sam) playing at N.C. State and playing against this defense will be valuable.”
Still, isn’t Freeman concerned with Hartman’s up-and-down history against the Wolfpack?
It’s more like he’s blissfully unaware.
“I don't know what happened when he was at Wake Forest,” Freeman said, “but I bet you he'll probably look at it.”
N.C. State is off to a strong start in 2023, limiting UConn to a measly average of 4.2 yards per pass attempt and preventing a passing touchdown.
Hartman's biggest advantage in Saturday’s matchup is Notre Dame’s offensive line. That is, assuming new starting guards Pat Coogan and Rocco Spindler hold up in their first actual road test.
In last year’s loss, the Wake Forest ground attack gave Hartman almost zero support. The Demon Deacons ran the ball 25 times for 17 yards (0.7 yards per carry) and a touchdown. This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. The Wolfpack possessed the No. 11 overall rush defense while Wake Forest ranked near the bottom of the FBS in yards per rush.
In 2021, a Hartman-led Wake Forest defeated N.C. State 45-42. Hartman still struggled, completing 42.6 percent of his passes, but the run game at least supported him 116 yards and three touchdowns on 44 carries.
Managing such production shouldn’t be a problem for the Irish run game even if their rush efficiency drops down by two or three yards against a stout rush defense. Notre Dame is averaging 6.3 yards per carry through two games.
The offensive line should also protect Hartman better than he ever was at Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons gave up 38.0 sacks last fall (107th) to Notre Dame’s 21.0 (40th).
The Irish also averaged 11.3 pressures allowed in 2022 and never gave up more than 18 in a game. Hartman has been pressured a minimum of 20 times in his three games against the Wolfpack.
With that said, Freeman still expects a hard-fought contest.
Raleigh, N.C., is apparently just too unkind to opposing signal-callers, even if Hartman is hoping to change such a narrative at noon on Saturday.
“Not many quarterbacks have been very successful against this defense,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. “We've got to make sure our plan is really lean, and you don't want a huge plan. Like, let's be confident in what we're doing. It's a unique defense, the 3-3-5. It's not something you see every day.
“We have to make sure our plan is nice and tight so our guys can go out and go do the job.”
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