Sam Hartman gives credit to Notre Dame teammates for Heisman hype

Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman is one of the betting favorites to win the Heisman Trophy, off to a tremendous start to the season with the Fighting Irish.

But the Wake Forest transfer is deflecting praise when it comes to talking about the Heisman Trophy race. For him, being in the conversation is a direct reflection of the support he has around him.

“I mean I think up front our guys are playing really well, and I think the tight ends obviously had a huge day,” Hartman said. “You’ve got guys making plays on the outside. Then obviously Audric (Estime) kind of opened that game up for us. And outside, receivers made a lot of plays. Tobias (Merriweather) had a big catch, right? (Chris Tyree) had a huge catch. And that puts me into those conversations.”

Make no mistake about it, though. Hartman’s in the Heisman Trophy conversation on his own merit.

One of the NCAA’s all-time leading passers, he’s already accounted for 731 yards and 10 touchdowns passing without an interception. He’s also run for another score.

Meanwhile, he’s got a 75.0% completion percentage and Notre Dame hasn’t had to play a close game yet.

“But all that is all a wash without everybody around me,” Hartman said. “(Gerad Parker) calling the plays, Gino (Guidugli) being there on the sideline, coach (Marcus) Freeman giving me the opportunity.”

The Heisman Trophy talk likely isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Not with Hartman playing terrifically and Notre Dame undefeated.

If anything, the scrutiny and the spotlight are only likely to intensify as the season wears on for Hartman. He doesn’t seem worried about handling it appropriately.

“Again, I’ve been in this situation before, right, at Wake, and those different things,” Hartman said. “Yeah, you see it, you hear it, but there’s no me in all those conversations about the front, the outside, right, in the trenches, those guys go to war for me. Shout, even the scout team guys. Alexa (Appelman) with nutrition. All those things go into play for me and all those different things are huge for us to make sure that I’m healthy and the team has success.”