Marcus Freeman praises Sam Hartman after he piloted Irish past Wake Forest, his former team
Notre Dame bashed Wake Forest, 45-7, on Senior Day for the Irish. And though he’s only been with the team for this season — his final in college football — Sam Hartman has delivered for Notre Dame this season since transferring in from Wake Forest.
Hartman shredded on Saturday, throwing for nearly 300 yards and multiple touchdowns. His performance Saturday and all year had head coach Marcus Freeman heaping on the praise postgame.
“Special, man. He’s special. We’re gonna miss him, but we’ve got him for two more, so we’re going to enjoy every one we have with him,” Freeman said.
Notre Dame finishes off the season on the road at Stanford in Week 12 before whatever bowl the Irish get picked for.
And if more performances like the one Hartman had on Saturday are coming, the Irish could be tacking on two more wins this year. Hartman finished 21-of-29 for 277 yards and four touchdowns in the win on Saturday.
While he had some license to unleash a bit of trash talk, Hartman demurred postgame and complimented his old outfit and praised the efforts of his current team.
“Hats off to Wake. I’ve been there, been in there shoes, obviously played there for so long. Coach Clawson, they came out and battled. Obviously, we executed on a lot of fronts and played a really complete game.”
The win also marked a milestone: It was the 500th all-time game at Notre Dame Stadium.
Freeman wasn’t going to let getting the win on that occasion be overlooked, either.
“It just is a reminder of the great tradition and those that have really set the stage for us to be able to be on this platform, man. It’s a reminder of how awesome this university is and how the previous in the past have really paved the way,” Freeman said.
And on Saturday, it was Hartman and the rest of the team paving the way for years of Irish football to come.
A Notre Dame bowl matchup could come against a former coach
While it might lose some luster from opt outs, an LSU vs. Notre Dame bowl matchup would have plenty of juice. The headlining attraction: Tigers head coach Brian Kelly facing off against the Irish for the first time since leaving his post late in 2021.
And with a bevy of projections placing the Tigers in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Notre Dame, Kelly was asked about the possibility. He acknowledged it’d be a circus, to some extent, but tried to keep focus on the task at hand.
“Should be great for the media. You guys will have — it’ll be great for you guys,” Kelly said to some laughs in the room before shifting focus back to the Tigers’ Week 12 opponent. “I hope that we get a bowl matchup that everybody’s excited about. But my focus right now is on Georgia State and we gotta play up to a standard to a team that has always risen up to the competition.”