SOUTH BEND, Ind. — As Notre Dame football closed out its 45-24 victory at NC State on Saturday, quarterback Sam Hartman located his mother in the stands of Carter-Finley Stadium and gave her a wave. That’s when he heard an NC State fan chirping at him.
Hartman’s response? A point to the scoreboard, a pouting face and a celebration of his first victory in three career starts in Carter-Finley Stadium. Days after the win, Hartman made it clear he wasn’t a fan of what he called the “narrative” of his previous struggles against NC State.
“I mean, the struggles that I was criticized for, obviously it wasn't too big of a struggle down there,” Hartman said Tuesday. “We were happy with the execution of our team, especially up front. Guys dominated and created a new line of scrimmage, so it was good."
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Hartman finished 15-of-24 passing (62.5%) for 286 yards and four touchdowns in Saturday’s win over the Wolfpack. But Hartman was also sacked four times, he fumbled twice and he lost one of those fumbles to the defense.
Sacks and turnovers were a continued theme from Hartman’s three games against NC State as the starting quarterback at Wake Forest. In those three games combined (one win and two losses), Hartman completed 72 of 131 passes (55.0%) for 945 yards and six touchdowns with six interceptions and 13 sacks.
Hartman’s fumble Saturday was his first turnover at Notre Dame. He said Tuesday he needs to do a better job of keeping two hands on the football.
“We obviously can't put the ball on the ground, and Sam knows that,” said head coach Marcus Freeman. “And we have to do a better job of, one, protecting him, but he's got to do a better job of protecting the football in those situations.”
NC State made Notre Dame’s offense look mortal in a first half for the first time this season. In the first two games, Hartman led the Irish to nine touchdowns on all nine first-half drives. Notre Dame needed to wait until its fourth drive and through a weather delay of nearly two hours to reach the end zone at NC State.
The Wolfpack forced three-and-outs on Notre Dame’s first two drives of the game, which netted a loss of 11 yards in six plays. The Irish offense totaled six three-and-outs throughout the game as NC State played tough. Notre Dame’s adjustments allowed the offense to score five touchdowns in the last 31 minutes of the game.
“It’s just the resilience of a football team, the resilience of each individual player and coach,” Hartman said. “We did a really good job of bouncing back. Everyone wants to be like, ‘Oh my goodness, we didn’t score on the first drive.’ Then we didn’t score on the second drive. We knew that going into it it wasn’t going to be easy. It wasn’t going to be easy. It wasn’t going to be this cake walk. NC State’s an unbelievable football team.”
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The first real spark for the offense came on running back Audric Estimé’s 80-yard touchdown run on the first play back from the lightning delay. But the offense found a new gear in the second half after Hartman led a successful two-minute drill to end the first half for the third time this season. He needed just three plays and 30 seconds to put the Irish into the end zone for the second time in the game with a 13-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jaden Greathouse.
The three touchdown drives in the final two minutes of Notre Dame’s first halves this season have been a work of art by Hartman, offensive coordinator Gerad Parker and the rest of the offense. A 14-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jayden Thomas ended Notre Dame’s nine-play, 80-yard drive that lasted 1:42 against Navy. Hartman picked up the tempo against Tennessee Sate with a six-play, 80-yard drive in 38 seconds capped by a four-yard touchdown pass to tight end Holden Staes.
The change in pace doesn’t seem to impact Hartman much. At least not in any way he’s willing to admit.
“It’s the same as the normal flow of the game,” Hartman said. “We just execute at that point. We know and they know that we’re trying to throw the ball, but we just have really strong, up front protection schemes. Everybody is doing their job the right way and that’s the possibility and the capability of this offense and the players around myself.”
Perhaps a lack of predictability has aided Notre Dame’s two-minute offense. Yes, the defense knows the Irish plan to pass. But it can’t know who Hartman intends to target. He’s spread the ball so widely through the first three games that no single receiver can be considered his go-to guy. Two wide receivers are tied with a team-high eight receptions: junior Jayden Thomas and freshman Greathouse. Nine other wide receivers, running backs or tight ends caught at least three passes in the first three games.
Even Hartman’s 10 touchdown passes have been spread to six different targets.
“It’s just the flow of the offense,” Hartman said. “When you have a strong run game, it opens up a lot more pass game options. From the tight ends to the slots to the outside receivers, everybody can get a chance.
“They’re all really good players is probably the second part. When you get that many guys on a roster that can all play, you want to get them all the ball in space. Even the running backs in space too. You want to give everybody a chance to go make plays in space.
“Like you’ve seen [tight end] Davis Sherwood getting open and catch the ball space. You’ve seen Holden Staes catch the ball in open space. Everybody’s making great plays. You want to share the wealth. That’s the No. 1 thing.”
On Saturday in Notre Dame Stadium (2:30 p.m. EDT on Peacock), the Irish will host a Central Michigan team (1-1) coming off a narrow 45-42 victory over FCS New Hampshire. The Chippewas struggled to slow down quarterback Max Brosmer, who finished 32-of-50 passing (64%) for 493 yards and four touchdowns with one interception.
Hartman should be able to widely distribute the football once again. And he shouldn’t have to worry about any hecklers in Notre Dame Stadium.
“The message this week is it’s not always the best football team, it’s not always the most well coached, it’s who plays the best on Saturdays that are going to go win these games,” Hartman said. “You see it all across college football. So, it’s all about us this week and it’s all about focusing and execution like every week. Nothing changes no matter who the opponent is.”
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