The passes were all on target, the game was never in doubt, and Sam Hartman enjoyed his Notre Dame debut in a way the Irish should be able to easily celebrate. “Irish” as in those in Ireland at the game at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, though also “Irish” as in the fans and players of Notre Dame.
The sixth-year quarterback picked apart Navy’s defense at will, that is when the fleet of Irish running backs was not churning up the field, sparking No. 13 Notre Dame (1-0) to a wire-to-wire 42-3 win.
Unlike a year ago, the Irish did not let off the gas pedal against the Midshipmen (0-1). Hartman’s command of the offense was too thorough to consider it. Most impressively, he led a two-minute drive to close the first half with precision, covering 80 yards in nine plays in just 1:42.
Notre Dame had nine opportunities at genuine two-minute drives last year, converting five of them into touchdowns. Two of those were against prevent defenses protecting multiple-score leads in the fourth quarter. One was a single play, 37-yard touchdown. A fourth was in the rout of Boston College.
So if narrowing the focus to moments of some competitive competence, the Irish went 1-of-5 in two-minute drives last year.
Hartman went 6-of-7 for 64 yards on the drive, gaining another 14 yards on a pass interference penalty. He patiently avoided pressure, knew when to accept an incompletion and showed the kind of poise expected from a player with 114 career touchdown passes, including his four on Saturday in Dublin. All things Notre Dame lacked in 2022.
Consider Hartman’s misses on Saturday, completing 19 of 23 passes for 266 yards. Two of those incompletions were drops (Tobias Merriweather, Chris Tyree), one was arguably intentional during that two-minute conversion — throwing off target toward running back Gi’Bran Payne in order to stop the clock rather than gain only a few yards — and the fourth was an on-target pass into the end zone underthrown enough for the defensive back to break up the pass to Merriweather but underthrown in order to give Merriweather a chance to catch it in bounds.
In other words, every Hartman pass hit its target.
Sam Hartman ⏩ Jaden Greathouse!#NotreDame up BIG against Navy.
— Notre Dame on NBC (@NDonNBC) August 26, 2023
📺 @nbc and @peacock pic.twitter.com/IXnF0pa9Zn
Meanwhile, Navy hardly had a passing game looking for targets, somehow even less explosive than usual for the triple-option approach. And, after an offseason of wonder, it dos appear the Midshipmen will stick pretty closely to their traditional triple-option offense this season, despite a new offensive coordinator in Grant Chestnut who moved FCS-level Kennesaw State partially out of the triple-option in the middle of the 2022 season, installing a pistol approach on the fly. navy starting quarterback Tai Lavatai completed one early pass for all of two yards before he found slot back Brandon Chatman for 39 yards halfway through the fourth quarter to get into scoring territory. That led to the only Midshipmen score, notable mostly because Navy should have scored twice earlier.
The Irish defense played well, but the Midshipmen should have scored at least twice, if not three times in total. It was not a perfect defensive performance, despite how well fifth-year linebacker Jack Kiser played in stifling the option throughout the first half (eight tackles before halftime), how disciplined senior defensive end Jordan Botelho was in handling his edge responsibilities and how much sophomore defensive end Joshua Burnham made of his first opportunity, notching a sack in the third quarter to further Notre Dame’s defensive showing.
The three times Navy left points on the board: The fourth-down conversion attempt with two receivers open inside the Irish 20-yard line, the missed field goal late in the second quarter and the eventual made field goal in the fourth quarter, a disappointing result given the Midshipmen had first-and-goal on the four-yard line.
STAT OF THE NIGHT
Hartman connected with three different receivers for his four touchdowns.
That may sound like a rather surface-level stat of the night, but it is notable considering the Irish exited last season without any trusted receivers. Notre Dame so leaned on star tight end Michael Mayer, and with good reason, that he caught nearly as many touchdowns (9) as the Irish returned this season (10).
No singular pass-catcher necessarily established himself Saturday. Hartman connected with six different receivers, as well as three running backs and no tight ends. That latter thought could be its own eye-catching stat.
Freshman Jaden Greathouse proved he will be more than a Blue-Gold Game star, catching Hartman’s first touchdown in a plain gold helmet as well as finding him on a scramble drill for a third-quarter score that rendered the remaining 24 minutes nothing but an exhibition.
Hartman also hit junior Jayden Thomas amid coverage and found junior Deion Colzie for a blitz-beating screen that then found the end zone.
What a feeling 🤩🤝 @jadengreat1#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/HtOwKt3rXE
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) August 26, 2023
QUIET SHOWING OF THE NIGHT
Junior running back Audric Estimé may need to again focus on protecting the football, fortunate to lose a football out of bounds — in large part thanks to junior tight end Mitchell Evans’s hustle — but otherwise, he quietly propelled Notre Dame’s offense early on. The first Irish drive featured seven Estimé touches for 51 yards.
He has said he cut back on his Popeye’s chicken habit by 75 percent this offseason and very much looked smoother as he shot downfield, gaining a first down on his first touch of the game, the first snap of the game, and jaunting through traffic on a 22-yard catch later in the drive. Some of that may have been how overmatched the Navy defenders were against the 227-pound Estimé, but some of it was distinct improvement.
He finished the game with 121 yards on 18 touches, ceding the spotlight to Hartman but still clearly setting Notre Dame’s offensive floor at a respectable level.
Perhaps the most subtle piece of Estimé’s quiet night, and the Irish rushing for 191 yards on 32 carries, an average of 6.0 yards per carry, and not giving up any sacks on Hartman’s 23 dropbacks was the play of the newly-named starting offensive guards. Junior right guard Rocco Spindler and junior left guard Pat Coogan delivered alongside three established offensive line starters.
Tommy Rees, Gerad Parker, it doesn't much matter. Notre Dame is going to run the ball.
— Douglas Farmer (@D_Farmer) August 26, 2023
This offense is just built for it. The preseason consternation about the guards was mostly an exercise in excess.
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
8:26 — Notre Dame touchdown. Audric Estimé one-yard rush. Spencer Shrader point after. Notre Dame 7, Navy 0. (13 plays, 81 yards, 6:28)
1:03 — Notre Dame touchdown. Jadarian Price 19-yard rush. Shrader point after. Notre Dame 14, Navy 0. (7 plays, 63 yards, 3:27)
Second Quarter
10:00 — Notre Dame touchdown. Jaden Greathouse 35-yard pass from Sam Hartman. Shader point after. Notre Dame 21, Navy 0. (4 plays, 84 yards, 1:52)
0:13 — Notre Dame touchdown. Jayden Thomas 14-yard pass from Hartman. Shrader point after. Notre Dame 28, Navy 0. (9 plays, 80 yards, 1:42)
Third Quarter
9:36 — Notre Dame touchdown. Jaden Greathouse 20-yard pass from Hartman. Shrader point after. Notre Dame 35, Navy 0. (6 plays, 63 yards, 2:48)
Fourth Quarter
11:54 — Notre Dame touchdown. Deion Colzie 25-yard pass from Hartman. Sharder point after. Notre Dame 42, Navy 0. (7 plays, 60 yards, 3:43)
3:33 — Navy field goal. Evan Warren 31 yards. Notre Dame 42, Navy 3. (15 plays, 62 yards, 8:21)
In order to remove a blood clot last year, Sam Hartman had part of his rib removed. How his mother commemorated the hardship may surprise you. pic.twitter.com/PMsiAeGSxT
— Notre Dame on NBC (@NDonNBC) August 26, 2023