Sam Hartman returns to familiar setting with chance to even score with NC State

During his three years as the starting quarterback at Wake Forest, Sam Hartman played NC State three times. His lone victory over the Wolfpack came in 2021 in a 45-42 thriller, bookended by losses in 2020 and 2022.

On Saturday, though, Hartman will look to even the score on Saturday as he heads to Raleigh as Notre Dame’s starter. He’s in a new system and impressed through the Fighting Irish’s first two games of the season, and he’ll try to keep things rolling to improve to 3-0 on the season.

That familiarity with NC State is a major storyline, though, according to Blue and Gold beat reporter Tyler Horka.

“I wish Notre Dame would have given him to us during mid-week media, but maybe that was strategic on Notre Dame’s part not to do that. But Sam Hartman did, after the Tennessee State game on Saturday, kind of say, ‘Hey, I’ve been there before, I’ve played against this team. They’re not gonna like us. They didn’t like me when I was at Wake Forest. And now, obviously, with a little bit of a more recognizable logo attached to my name, they’re not gonna like me this time, either,'” Horka told On3’s Andy Staples on Andy Staples On3.

“So I know that NC State got Sam Hartman twice in those three games that they played. NC State has a 2-1 record against Sam Hartman, Sam Hartman a 1-2 record against those guys. But something tells me that if they were to get Sam Hartman again, this one would be a little sweeter even though it’s not a conference game or anything like that. If NC State were to knock off Notre Dame with Sam Hartman as the quarterback, that’d be a big, big deal in Raleigh.”

Inside the numbers: Sam Hartman vs. NC State

Hartman struggled against Tony Gibson’s defense the last three years, including back-to-back games with three interceptions against NC State. He has averaged 308 passing yards while throwing for six total touchdowns in three matchups with the Wolfpack.

But Wake Forest runs a slow mesh system on offense. Notre Dame, meanwhile, runs a pro-style offense headlined by a staunch rushing attack. Hartman has said he’s never played with a running back like Audric Estime, who’s sure to be a key piece of Gerad Parker’s Week 2 game plan.

One thing’s for sure, though. Parker doesn’t want to bring up Hartman’s struggles against that 3-3-5 defense.

“There are too many ways and too many things that are already hard enough about this job and certainly hard enough about his job,” Parker said this week. “We don’t want to bring up ghosts.”

Notre Dame opened as a 6.5-point favorite over NC State, according to FanDuel. The two teams will kick off the Week 2 action Saturday at noon ET on ABC.