Brian Newberry shares impressions of Sam Hartman after loss

Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman didn’t only impress Fighting Irish fans. After Notre Dame’s blowout 42-3 win over Navy on Saturday, Navy head coach Brian Newberry discussed Hartman’s standout performance.

“He’s a really good player and we knew that going in,” Newberry said during the postgame press conference. “He’s just a smart player. He sees the field really, really well and he was able to identify things we were doing really well and he put the ball in the right places when he did.”

Newberry isn’t exaggerating. Hartman was fantastic on Saturday, completing 19/23 passes for 251 yards and four touchdowns while throwing zero interceptions. The spectacular showing culminated in an impressive 97.9 quarterback rating.

“He’s like a coach out there on the field. He ran the offense well and he was super efficient,” Newberry said. “When they did throw it, they were deadly efficient.”

Hartman might have more experience than some coaches. In five seasons at Wake Forest, Hartman amassed an ACC-record 110 touchdown passes. Additionally, the North Carolina native threw for 12,967 yards, the second-most in conference history.

Hartman’s awards nearly outnumber his passing yards. For his efforts, Hartman was the 2022 Brian Piccolo Award winner, an All-ACC Third Team member, a Manning Award finalist and placed in the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Top 10.

Hartman receives praise from fellow Fighting Irish

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman saw his QB1’s experience shine through.

“I think he told me today… He started 42 games, this moment isn’t too big,” Freeman said. “It’s about him going out there and just executing. And what I really thought, he did a great job putting our offense in a really good position. There were a couple things, a couple calls that we had that depended upon what the defense was showing. 

“We were going to check to run or pass, a certain protection and to just hear the communication of our coaches to make sure that Sam is putting our offense in a great, just really a great situation to succeed was really good.”

Freeman wasn’t the only one to give Hartman his flowers.

“He opens up a lot,” ND running back Audric Estime said of Hartman. “On and off the field, Sam’s a great guy. He’s a great leader, he’s a very smart guy, he’s a guy that’s played a lot of football, he’s a guy that we all rally around. He’s a great leader for us.”

Hartman will lead the Fighting Irish into battle again on Sept. 2 against Tennessee State.