Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1509252
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 14, 2023 7 UNDER THE DOME After Notre Dame beat North Caro- lina State 45-24 Sept. 9 in Raleigh, N.C., Hartman's postgame television hit ran a little long. When he started to make his way back to the visitor's tunnel at Carter-Finley Stadium, the Wolfpack band was in the middle of playing the Wolfpack's alma mater. Hartman slowed his trot and gave Irish fans the "quiet down" palm to the ground symbol. He waited until the North Carolina State played every note, which took about 40 seconds from the time he be- gan running toward the locker room from midfield. As soon as the Wolf- pack's band's tunes stopped, Hartman turned to Notre Dame fans and gave them their cue to erupt into cheers. It might not sound like much, but it was an act very few quarterbacks in the country would have followed through with. Hartman wanted to acknowledge his team's supporters, but he didn't want to interrupt the home team's song. So, he gave everybody the best of both worlds by waiting it out even though all of his teammates were well into the pro- cess of getting ready for the flight home. 4. Deep Balls Vs. CMU The off-the-field stuff is heartwarm- ing and makes you feel fuzzy inside, but let's face it; Notre Dame pulled Hartman out of the transfer portal after five sea- sons at Wake Forest primarily for what he can do on the field. In Week 3 against Central Michigan, he showed exactly what that looks like. Hartman completed 16 of 26 throws for 330 yards with 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions against the Chippewas. Two of his first four completions were a 75-yard touchdown heave to sophomore wide receiver Tobias Mer- riweather and a 76-yard bomb to senior wideout Chris Tyree. Both balls had a tremendous amount of distance trav- eled in the air; they weren't dink-and- dunk, catch-and-run scores. They were perfectly placed, air-it- out hoists. Hartman was also respon- sible for a 39-yard completion to ju- nior wide receiver Jayden Thomas and a 42-yarder to freshman Rico Flores Jr. in the same game. In 13 games in 2022, Notre Dame had 48 passing plays of at least 20 yards. That ranked tied for 44th in the FBS. Through six games this season, the Irish already had 29 such plays. That was tied with USC for fifth. That's the Hartman effect. 5. Response To Heisman Trophy Buzz OK, fine. Back to the off-the-field stuff. Through three games, Hartman had legitimate Heisman Trophy buzz. He was completing 75 percent of his passes with 10 touchdowns and 0 intercep- tions. Only USC's Caleb Williams had a better passer rating than Hartman's mark of 222.5. Only four other signal- callers had a better quarterback rating than his figure of 89.8. Hartman was asked about his name being floated out there in the same sentence as the Heisman, and instead of talking about himself he mentioned, in order, the Notre Dame offensive line, Irish tight ends, junior running back Audric Estimé, Irish wide receivers, offensive coordinator Gerad Parker, quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli, head coach Marcus Freeman, the Irish scout team and sports nutritionist Al- exa Appelman. "All those different things are huge for us to make sure I'm healthy and the team has success," he said Sept. 13. 6. 'One Of Us! One Of Us!' Hartman's day was done at halftime in an eventual 56-3 rout of Tennessee State Sept. 2. So, he put on a signaling pinnie and a headset and got busy with hand motions and body language with Notre Dame backup quarterback Steve Angeli getting his first extended action of his young career. It sure looked like Hartman was just a decoy. It didn't seem like he was actu- ally signaling in plays to Angeli. Still, he had a big smile on his face while he was doing whatever it was he was up to, work or play. He could have been do- ing anything else, too. Taking a literal victory lap. Instead, he was as close to the field as he could be without actually being between the white lines. A f te r t h e sa m e ga m e , H a r t m a n latched onto someone from the Notre Dame spirit squad and tried an Irish jig. He's a better thrower of footballs than he is a dancer, but he's just as good of a teammate and ambassador for all things Notre Dame as he is a thrower of footballs. "He's great," Notre Dame junior de- fensive tackle Jason Onye said. "We all love him." ✦ After leading the Irish on a game-winning 95-yard drive at Duke, Hartman stayed on the field to check on Blue Devils quarterback Riley Leonard who was injured during the last possession. FILE PHOTO