Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman ranks No. 2 in this college football statistic
When you think of the top, “Holy moly, that guy is still playing college football” players of 2023, Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman has to be one of the first who comes to mind.
Hartman was the No. 13 overall quarterback recruit in the class of 2018 according to the On3 Industry Ranking. That feels like ages ago. At the time of Hartman’s arrival at Wake Forest, Notre Dame had still never qualified for the College Football Playoff. The program’s first appearance in the CFP came later that year.
Notre Dame has had a ton of success since then. So has Hartman.
Only one Power Five quarterback has more career starts than Hartman’s 45; Oregon’s Bo Nix has 47. The first of those 45 came in Hartman’s first college game. He was one of just five FBS freshmen to start his team’s season opener in 2018. He’s been in rare air ever since, but it hasn’t come easily at times.
Hartman could have 50 starts by now. He broke his leg in the ninth game of his freshman year and missed the following four matchups. Jamie Newman snatched the starting role from him while he was rehabbing. Hartman only played in four games with one start as a sophomore in 2019. He didn’t appear on the field in a game in any capacity until Oct. 12 versus Louisville. He was responsible for three scoring drives in the fourth quarter alone.
Then he helped Wake Forest beat Florida State for the first time since 2011 the following week. He threw for 308 yards in a 22-20 victory.
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Wake Forest only played nine games during the shortened 2020 season. Hartman started all of them. He threw for 247.1 yards per game with 13 touchdown passes and 5 interceptions in a 4-5 campaign for the Demon Deacons.
The second highest passing output of his career came in a 45-29 loss to North Carolina. Hartman threw for 429 yards and 4 touchdowns without any interceptions.
The turnover bug struck in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl against Wisconsin. Hartman threw for 318 yards and 3 touchdowns, but he also had 4 picks. The Badgers beat the Deacons, 37-20.
Hartman put himself on the map in 2021. He threw for 4,228 yards, seventh most in the FBS, with 39 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Only four FBS quarterbacks — Western Kentucky’s Bailey Zappe (62), Alabama’s Bryce Young (47), Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud (44) and Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett (42) — threw for more touchdowns than Hartman.
Pickett got the best of Hartman in the ACC Championship Game. The Panthers won 46-21, and Hartman threw 4 interceptions for the second time in his career. Those are the only two instances in which he’s done so.
His career has certainly come with the good, the bad and the ugly. That continued into 2022 when he posted a personal-best 308.4 passing yards per game with 38 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 12 games. He missed the season opener with a blot clot.
There isn’t much Hartman hasn’t done. Everything he accomplishes at Notre Dame will be icing on the cake — especially if postseason accolades are in the picture.
FBS quarterbacks with the most career starts
1. Bo Nix, Oregon 47
2. Sam Hartman, Notre Dame 45
3. Jayden Daniels, LSU 43
4. Spencer Sanders, Ole Miss 42
5. Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma; Kedon Slovis, BYU 37
