Putting Notre Dame football QB Sam Hartman's comeback history in perspective
DURHAM, N.C. — That 95-yard march to salvage a 21-14 win at Duke on Saturday night marked the first such heroics for Sam Hartman in his Notre Dame football stint, but it was hardly the first time he had to locate his cape on the fly.
Even as Notre Dame carried a one-point deficit into the final minute at Duke, Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman said he never lost hope.
“When Sam Hartman is your quarterback, you have a lot of faith,” Freeman said. “He’s been in those moments. He’s not a first-time quarterback. The moment wasn’t too big for him. I don’t want to just give credit to one person, but the plays he made on that series were huge.”
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Now 32-19 all-time as a starting quarterback, the Wake Forest graduate transfer led the Deacons to six prior victories when tied or trailing in the fourth quarter. The most recent of those was Sept. 17, 2022 against Liberty, when Wake Forest held on to win 37-36.
An 11-win season in 2021 included back-to-back wins in early October against Louisville (37-34 on a field goal with 22 seconds remaining) and at Syracuse (40-37 in overtime after trailing with 3:28 left).
Hartman also pulled out late wins in each of his first three college seasons: Virginia in 2020 after being tied with 13 minutes left; Florida State in 2019 (go-ahead field goal with 4:18 left); and 2018 at Tulane, a 23-17 overtime win after trailing with 14:35 to play.
WATCH: #NDFootball QB Sam Hartman on what he was thinking as Audric Estime scored on a 30-yard run with 31 seconds left rather than slide to set up a winning field goal with no time left. “Touchdowns are awesome.” pic.twitter.com/BrewAg3Q5s
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) October 1, 2023
The 17th-ranked Blue Devils were the highest-rated opponent Hartman has defeated. He’s now 4-9 for his career against ranked opposition, including 0-7 against teams ranked in the top 16 of the Associated Press poll.
The other wins for Hartman came on the road against No. 23 Florida State (31-21 in 2022), at home against No. 21 N.C. State (45-42 in 2021) and at home against No. 19 Virginia Tech (23-16 in 2020).
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.
Halfway through the regular season, Hartman has passed for 14 touchdowns but has yet to throw an interception 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.
Brady Quinn went 228 pass attempts without an interception in 2006, and Jimmy Clausen’s streak reached 160 pass attempts in 2009.
Hartman’s overall pick-free streak is at 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, Notre Dame’s only offensive turnover this year was Hartman’s strip-sack fumble at N.C. State in Game 3.
Follow Notre Dame football writer Mike Berardino on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football quarterback Sam Hartman by the numbers
