Why Tennessee State football won't mind if Notre Dame's Sam Hartman throws for 500 yards

Of all the mismatches facing Tennessee State football against No. 13 Notre Dame, none is more glaring than quarterback Sam Hartman against the Tigers' secondary.

Hartman transferred from Wake Forest, where he enjoyed a record-setting career, in sterling fashion when he shredded the Navy defense in a 42-3 shellacking in the season opener in Dublin, Ireland. He threw four touchdowns and only four incomplete passes in his first game with Notre Dame.

Hartman reached 13,218 career passing yards and 114 touchdown passes. He moved to 18th on the NCAA career passing yards list and into a tie at 14th with Florida's Danny Wuerffel (1993-96) for touchdown passes at 114.

Who can stop Sam Hartman − TSU?

Over his last 13 games Hartman has averaged 304 passing yards and 3.2 passing touchdowns. Now it's time for TSU to try to stop him Saturday (2:30 p.m., NBC) .

"We went back and looked at last year and you could see they were just a run heavy football team with just adequate quarterback play," TSU coach Eddie George said. "Now you throw in the element of a Heisman caliber quarterback in Sam Hartman, who has a ton of experience football-wise playing in real games. You add more weapons around him and now you have him with the ability to make every single throw, an elite arm, he's being protected by the best offensive line in the country − no we have never seen that before."

The good news, relatively speaking, for TSU is that its pass defense is its greatest strength. The defense, particularly the secondary, struggled early last season giving up more than 600 total passing yards and six passing touchdowns in the first two game against Eastern Washington and Jackson State, but buckled down after that and played well.

The Tigers held the last eight quarterbacks they faced to less than 200 passing yards. They finished first in the Ohio Valley Conference and 19th in the FCS in passing yards allowed (190.1).

Of course, those quarterbacks weren't anywhere near as talented as Hartman.

An easy transition for Sam Hartman

TSU defensive coordinator Brandon Fisher was impressed how Hartman adapted to the Fighting Irish's attack.

And that's what makes him so dangerous. Very few, if any, changes were necessary to turn the pro style unit over to Hartman.

"There was some uncertainty as to what is Notre Dame going to be? But in the Navy-Notre Dame game it was more pro style than even last year," Fisher said. "There were more snaps with (Hartman) under center than Notre Dame did last year (with Tyler Buchner). Hartman fits their system and it's definitely an upgrade at the quarterback position. He's incredibly efficient running the offense, they got to four third downs in the first half (vs. Navy) and converted all four of them. He can beat you with his arm but more importantly he can beat you with his mind."

Forcing the pass

Hartman and his gaudy statistics have been a hot topic early in the college football season and it may come as a surprise that Fisher isn't worried about Hartman adding to his totals.

Fisher said TSU has a better chance at slowing the Notre Dame offense if it is able to force Hartman to throw the ball.

"If Sam has 500 yards passing it means that we did a good job because they didn't have 500 yards rushing on us," Fisher said. "That's where this thing has to start; from inside out. Handling the back No. 7 (Audric Estime') because he's special and then we can't let the ball go over our head. Our mindset is we're going to make (Hartman) pick it up and throw it and they can't just run the ball through the defense all day."

ESTES: Don't expect TSU football to back down from Notre Dame: 'It will be ... competitive'

Fisher realizes he is at a disadvantage personnel-wise across the board. But that hasn't dampened his enthusiasm or his players as they prepare meet the highest ranked opponent the Tigers have ever been up against.

"These kids are excited to play and they're going to play hard," Fisher said. "It's going to be hard to sustain each individual matchup for 60 plays, to consistently win every matchup. But I want each one of these kids to show that they're capable of winning that matchup multiple times. I want these kids to be able to highlight their talents. Realistically we know that it's a tough matchup for us."

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X, formerly Twitter, @MikeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Notre Dame-TSU football game: Sam Hartman stats don't worry Tigers