Highlights: No. 13 Notre Dame 56, Tennessee State 3 — Most dramatic Irish plays frustrate Marcus Freeman
Two of Notre Dame’s best highlights in Saturday’s 56-3 win against Tennessee State (0-1) both frustrated Irish head coach Marcus Freeman. Many a coach leaves a dominating win posturing over some small things, finding coaching moments even in success. But Freeman was not conjuring up pieces of film study. He was genuinely chagrined, if not aggravated.
Start with Sam Hartman’s diving touchdown early in the second quarter.
The Tigers had just put enough of a scare into No. 13 Notre Dame (2-0) to justify aggression. Frankly, they should have had a lead. So Hartman holding onto a designed option and darting toward the goal line was understandable, it fit the offensive game plan.
Diving head first into the end zone over a defender and rather gracefully executing a somersault, however, put a brief scare into Freeman.
“You kind of don’t want to see him do that,” Freeman said after the home-opening win. “... Keep your feet on the ground.”
Freeman’s worry went beyond his star quarterback — having now orchestrated 11 touchdowns on 12 drives — putting his body at risk with the exposing leap. Hartman rolled right onto his feet and opened his arms toward the crowd. Of all weeks, the afternoon in which Notre Dame plays a historically Black university for the first time in program history was not the occasion for self-aggrandizing.
“Was this planned, because you kind of did some gesture to the fans,” Freeman said he asked Hartman. “I said, have you done that before?”
Hartman insisted there was no planning, though the broad arms may have looked familiar.
“I’ve been doing that one for a while,” he said after his one half of work was enough to warrant a postgame podium appearance. “... It’s the man in the arena, ‘Are you not entertained?’
“A little me-guy move, so I’m a little disappointed in it, but sometimes it just comes out. It was not premeditated, kind of happened.”
Hartman may come from an overlooked program in Wake Forest, he may be listed at just 6-foot-1, he may be a 24-year-old adult still in college, but let no one think he is entirely modest, there is a bit of a “me-guy” gladiator in the sixth-year quarterback.
His brief Russell Crowe impersonation worried Freeman far less than Ramon Henderson’s gaffe after his diving interception. The senior safety used every inch of his 6-foot-1 frame to get to a second-quarter pass, covering a solid third of the field while the ball was in the air and then extending himself parallel to the field to snag it.
Frankly, the play was reminiscent of a Kyle Hamilton interception in the 2021 opener at Florida State, a play that Hamilton celebrated so aggressively as to draw an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Freeman would have given Henderson one on Saturday, too, for immediately spiking the football in celebration.
“We have a saying that says, ‘Hand the ball to the official,’” Freeman said. “That’s after every play.”
More than a saying, it sounds like a rule, but it is one with good reason.
“One is it ensures you have the ball, so when we say hand the ball to the official, it ensures you have possession of the ball, there is no confusion who has the ball,” Freeman said.
Live, there was some wonder if Henderson completed the catch, his body shielding the spike from the press box, and the ball escaping his frame so quickly it was unclear if it had remained on the turf. The celebration belied the reality of the turnover, but for a moment, there was wonder. Following Freeman’s rule would have removed that doubt.
Senior safety Xavier Watts was immediately tracking down the spiked ball, an attempt to satisfy the rule, perhaps save Henderson some grief.
“Two, I think it’s respect for the game of football,” Freeman said. “I don’t want to see guys throwing the ball down after a touchdown or an interception. Hand the ball to the official because you respect the referees, [and] you respect the game of football.”
Credit to The Athletic’s Pete Sampson for spotting Freeman quickly heading over to the defensive backs to get into Henderson’s ear and thus asking the question about what was said. Freeman said a few players needed that reminder during Saturday’s rout. It should be noted, Hartman held onto the football as he beckoned to the crowd after his somersault.
AN UNOFFICIAL RECORD
It will take some box score crawling to confirm, but presume Notre Dame set a program record on Saturday with eight separate players scoring touchdowns.
Through two weeks, 10 different offensive players have found the end zone, led by freshman receiver Jaden Greathouse’s two touchdowns last week and matched by junior running back Audric Estimé’s one touchdown each week and sophomore running back Jadarian Price’s one touchdown each week.
Just as notable, Hartman connected with 10 different targets on his 14 pass completions, all in the first half. A week ago, nine players caught passes, plus sophomore receiver Tobias Merriweather was targeted twice.
Notre Dame may not yet have a clear No. 1 receiver — though junior Jayden Thomas’s four catches for 62 yards against the Tigers give him eight catches for 125 yards on the season, both leading the Irish — but it is developing options.
