Marcus Freeman evaluates Sam Hartman’s Notre Dame debut vs. Navy

Sam Hartman and Notre Dame cruised to a 42-3 win over Navy in the season opener in Ireland and Marcus Freeman was quite pleased with his quarterback.

Hartman was aided by a stout running game against the Midshipmen. Audric Estime led the way with 16 carries, 95 yards and a touchdown.

A balanced attack like that for Hartman and the Notre Dame offense is a recipe for great success in 2023. That’s exactly what Freeman thought postgame.

“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.”

Hartman finished the game 19-of-23 passing for 251 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions.

“I thought just the overall operation of our offense, the ability to run the ball helps a lot too,” Freeman said. “We talked about it yesterday, our team meeting the greatest friend of a quarterback is the ability to run the ball. And that was something that our offense, our line and our running game did a great job today.”

It may have been a balanced attack against Navy, but Hartman showed why he was one of the best quarterbacks in ACC history before coming to the Fighting Irish. He moved past former Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray on the NCAA’s all-time passing yards list.

Expectations are high for Hartman, the ACC’s all-time leading touchdown passer, after his transfer from Wake Forest. He arrived in South Bend as the No. 2-ranked transfer from the 2023 cycle, according to the On3 Transfer Portal Rankings, and looked to jump-start the Notre Dame offense.

Prior to kickoff against Navy, Freeman said Hartman met the expectations. In fact, he’s done better than Freeman could have imagined.

“He’s exceeded everything, I’ve thought,” Freeman told Zora Stephenson on the NBC broadcast just prior to kickoff. “He’s been unbelievable leader, unbelievable teammate. I’m really happy for him to go out here and compete today.”