'No Injury' For Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman Ahead of Ohio State
Sam Hartman is the x-factor in helping Notre Dame pull off its biggest win of the season over Ohio State Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium.
For those wondering if he'll be limited in evading the pressure, rest assured that the quarterback is full-go for the No. 9 Irish.
“There’s no injury,” Hartman said Monday while meeting with reporters ahead of Saturday’s top-10 showdown against Ohio State. “I was just curious because I didn’t really see the … if that kid just went straight down. You’re not really looking down.”
Hartman, who's on pace to produce one of the single greatest seasons in Notre Dame history at quarterback, suffered a scare in Saturday's 41-17 win over Central Michigan. During the fourth quarter, Hartman's lower left leg was twisted up after Chippewa defensive lineman Quindario Lee fell onto him during a third-down incompletion.
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said that after the play while hobbling toward the sidelines, Hartman told him he had "turned my knee or rolled my leg.”
The good news for Notre Dame? It was nothing more than a stinger. Hartman finished the day 16-of-26 passing for 330 yards and three touchdowns.
“After watching, it was just a pileup,” Hartman said. “It’s football. It’s a violent game. It’s going to happen. I’m just glad I got out of it healthy, and on to the next.”
After becoming the ACC's all-time leader in passing touchdowns with 110 scores, Hartman wanted a fresh start. Notre Dame was the favorite to acquire his services, significantly when mixed quarterback play hindered Freeman from producing stronger results in his first season as Brian Kelly's replacement.
The Irish are often ridiculed for their strength of schedule. As an Independent, Notre Dame is able to construct its matchups often in its favor, minus annual rivalry games with Stanford and Navy.
This isn't one of those years where the College Football Playoff committee will consider the strength of schedule as a factor to leave Notre Dame outside the final four. The No. 6 Buckeyes (3-0, 1-0 B1G) remain a favorite to win the conference title come December. No. 5 USC is the front-runner to take home the Pac-12 title. Even after Saturday, Notre Dame still has three more potential top-25 matchups with No. 18 Duke, Louisville and Clemson on the docket.
Hartman, who's thrown 13 touchdowns against zero interceptions since taking over for Drew Pyne and Tyler Buchner, holds the key to keeping Notre Dame's playoff hopes alive. He also is the driving force of the Irish offense.
Buckeyes coach Ryan Day knows the challenges a veteran quarterback who's played in big games can bring to the football once kickoff begins.
"You can tell Hartman is a veteran," Day said during Tuesday's press conference. "He's been around, played a lot of football. He's accurate, very intelligent. He's got a lot of good attributes for a quarterback. He won a lot of games at Wake Forest and he's 4-0 now.
"It's a different style of quarterback than the one they had last year."
