Sam Hartman Brings Outstanding Deep Ball Skills To The Notre Dame Offense

Notre Dame has lacked deep ball production in recent seasons, something the addition of Sam Hartman should improve dramatically

Notre Dame landed former Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman, who plans to transfer in to play for the Irish after 45 career starts with the Deacons. Hartman brings plenty of experience to the table, and there are plenty of traits that he adds to the Notre Dame offense, should he win the starting job.

There is one attribute that Hartman brings that will have arguably the greatest impact, and that is the ability to attack opponents down the field. For years Notre Dame has struggled to consistently hit plays down the field, and in many instances to even attempt it. Hartman has been one of the nation's most prolific deep ball passers the last two seasons, but it's not just the throws beyond 20 yards, the former Wake quarterback throws beyond 10 yards as much, if not more, than any quarterback in the the nation.

Hartman ranked 3rd nationally in 2022 with 41 completions on throws that traveled at least 20 yards past the line of scrimmage (according to Pro Football Focus). The two players in front of him completed 43 and 45 deep passes, but those two quarterbacks - Drake Maye of North Carolina and Austin Reed of Western Kentucky - both played 14 games, while Hartman played just 12 games. His 16 touchdowns also ranks 3rd, behind Reed and TCU quarterback Max Duggan.

Hartman ranked 2nd nationally in deep ball completions in 2021 with 45, and his 20 touchdown passes on throws that traveled at least 20 yards past the line was most in the country.

No quarterback in college football comes close to the 86 deep ball completions that Hartman racked up the last two seasons.

Hartman tied for 2nd nationally in passes completed from 10-19 yards, completing 73 of those throws. He tied with Michael Penix Jr. of Washington and trailed only Maye. His 14 touchdown passes on throws in that range is 3rd, trailing only CJ Stroud of Ohio State and Will Rogers of Mississippi State, who tied for the lead with 15.

In total, Hartman completed 114 passes that traveled at least 10 yards past the line of scrimmage, and 30 of those passes went for touchdowns. He was 2nd behind only Maye in completions and he tied Reed for the national lead in touchdowns.

For Notre Dame specifically, the lack of effectiveness, and often times willingness, to attack down the field proved problematic. Over the last two seasons especially, Hartman has been significantly more aggressive - and effective - attacking beyond 10 yards, and again beyond 20 yards.

Let's take a look at the numbers.

Notre Dame did a good job not turning the ball over in 2022 on deep throws, but the Irish were often unwilling to take enough downfield shots to take pressure off the defense. The 2022 offense was more efficient down the field but attempted just 24 passes on the season, less than two per game. Thirty-eight percent of the deep ball yards came in two games (Navy, USC).

Notre Dame went over 100 yards on deep ball completions just twice, and it went for under 40 yards on deep balls in six different games, and 41 in another. Twice Notre Dame failed to complete a single pass beyond 20 yards past the line (California, Clemson).

Hartman went over 100 yards on deep balls five times, including a season-high 184 yards against Clemson. He went over 80 yards four more times and went below 40 yards just once.

The story is even greater when you look at the intermediate throws, which are those that go between 10-19 yards past the line of scrimmage.

This is the zone Notre Dame was least effective with. Not only did the Irish fail to attack this zone with any kind of consistency or frequency, it was highly ineffective, throwing more interceptions (7) than touchdowns (4) and completing less than 50% of the attempted passes this season.

Combined with the lack of deep ball productivity and the reality is Notre Dame simply lacked the pass game effectiveness, or aggressiveness, to have a championship caliber offense.

When you look at all throws that traveled at least 10 yards past the line of scrimmage the numbers are even more staggering.

If you're Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand and running backs coach Deland McCullough you know you'll have a very, very good ground attack in 2023, if not an elite one. The Irish were quite good in 2022, rushing for at least 220 yards in seven different games. That was without a pass game that could attack with much effectiveness beyond 10 yards, much less beyond 20.

Hartman brings a long track record of having the willingness and ability to attack down the field. He's never had a run game to take the pressure off his as a passer, with Wake Forest averaging just 131.1 and 160.5 rushing yards per game the last two seasons. It's hard not to be excited about the possibility of Hartman's passing ability combining with the Notre Dame ground attack.

That's a big reason why Hartman was the player Notre Dame targeted in the transfer portal, and why it's such a big pickup.

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