Interception-free streak finally ends for Notre Dame football QB Sam Hartman
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Nothing lasts forever.
Sam Hartman finally threw his first interception for 10th-ranked Notre Dame football. It happened in Saturday night's first quarter at 25th-ranked Louisville, site of Hartman’s six-turnover nightmare (including two pick-sixes and three lost fumbles) in the third quarter last season while playing for Wake Forest.
That 48-21 loss on Oct. 29 sent the 10th-ranked Deacons, who had been 6-1, into a tailspin of four losses in five games.
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The pick came at 13:11 in the first drive of the game as Hartman floated a fade pass intended for Rico Flores Jr. It was intercepted by Louisville's Quincy Riley. Hartman had started the drive 3-for-3 passing for 29 yards.
Halfway through the regular season, the 24-year-old graduate transfer quarterback entered Saturday’s game with 14 passing touchdowns and zero interceptions in 145 attempts. That’s the longest streak to start a Notre Dame season and the fourth-longest in school history.
Ian Book holds the school mark at 266 pass attempts without an interception in 2020. The winningest quarterback in Notre Dame history at 30-5, Book was finally intercepted in the regular-season finale against Syracuse.
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Brady Quinn went 228 pass attempts without an interception in 2006, and Jimmy Clausen’s streak reached 160 pass attempts in 2009.
Hartman’s entered Saturday with an overall pick-free streak of 163 attempts, dating to the second quarter of Wake Forest’s Gasparilla Bowl win over Missouri last Dec. 23 in Tampa.
Despite several close calls on Saturday at Duke, including a diving drop by converted halfback Terry Moore moments before Hartman’s 17-yard scramble on fourth-and-16, Notre Dame’s only offensive turnover this year was Hartman’s strip-sack fumble at N.C. State in Game 3.
Before this year, Hartman had avoided interceptions for more than two straight games just once since the start of the 2021 season. That was a three-game interception-free streak against Clemson, Florida State and Army early last season.
Hartman opened 2020 with seven straight pick-free games while tossing eight touchdown passes. That streak ended on Dec. 12 at Louisville after a career-best 257 pass attempts without an interception, dating back more than a calendar year to a Nov. 30, 2019 loss at Syracuse.
Both Irish touchdowns at Duke came on Audric Estime runs, which stopped Hartman’s 39-game streak with either a scoring pass or run. That had been the longest active streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Follow Notre Dame football writer Mike Berardino on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football QB Sam Hartman sees interception-free streak end
