Sam Hartman calls first Notre Dame spring game 'incredible'

Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman wrapped up his first and only spring game for the Fighting Irish in great fashion. The transfer quarterback completed 13 of his 16 attempts for 189 passing yards and two touchdowns. He also added another score on the ground.

His team won the game 24-0 and Hartman was really happy with how the day turned out.

“It was incredible,” Hartman said on the Peacock broadcast. “The first time with the real gold helmets on. It’s a credit to all the work we put in in the spring. You start off with a new team, new place, and you come out here with this many people, this many fans, it was really fun. You play it for those moments, you play it for those opportunities to go out there and throw the ball around, hand the ball off, o-line protected, guys caught the ball and ran hard. It’s really fun.”

Hartman arrived in South Bend, Ind., this winter with high expectations.

He spent the first five years of his college career at Wake Forest, where he was a starter for four of those five seasons. He was an All-ACC second team honoree in 2021 and an All-ACC third team honoree in 2022.

Among players who entered the transfer portal, Hartman was ranked No. 2 overall in the On3 College Football Transfer Portal Rankings to Travis Hunter.

Despite the high-profile nature of his transfer, Hartman is competing with Tyler Buchner for the starting quarterback role.

Over his career with the Demon Deacons, Hartman threw for 12,967 yards and 110 touchdowns against just 41 interceptions.

Buchner was the starting quarterback on Opening Day for Notre Dame last year. But he was injured in the second game of the season and did not return to the field until the bowl game.

Head coach Marcus Freeman said it has been good to watch the two get better throughout the spring and push each other.

“Constant improvement,” Freeman said of what he’s seen from the quarterbacks. “Those two are ultimate competitors and they’ve made each other better, and that’s been great to see. The progression of those two through 14 practices … it’s going to be exciting to see. They’re probably only going to play the first half, but it’s going to be exciting to see in this environment.”

He, however, said it was not time to name a starting quarterback just yet.