SOUTH BEND, Ind. — It would be hard to not be entertained. Notre Dame has scored 11 touchdowns on Sam Hartman’s 12 drives, the exception ending in a missed field goal. Nine different players have found the end zone when Hartman takes the snap.
No advanced stats are necessary — the Irish have gained 97 percent of their available yardage with Hartman at the helm — 77 points in less than six quarters is a blunt instrument of clarity. No. 13 Notre Dame (2-0) is entertaining with Hartman at quarterback, even if he was on the field for only half of the Irish victory against FCS-level Tennessee State (0-1) on Saturday, 56-3.
Hartman referenced the “Gladiator” quote when asked about his celebration following his diving touchdown in the second quarter against the Tigers. His crowd-welcoming celebration was not inherently planned, but it is one he said he has done before in his lengthy career, also suggesting he had some “Gladiator” reference on his person early in the game before it came off after a slide on one of his four carries.
“It’s the man in the arena, are you not entertained?” Hartman said. “... It was not pre-meditated, kind of happened.”
The front flip he did to get into the end zone was assuredly not pre-meditated. Landing on your head into a somersault is not something any football player tries to do.
Why wouldn't Marcus Freeman like Sam Hartman's touchdown flip? I can only wonder.
— Douglas Farmer (@D_Farmer) September 3, 2023
(Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) pic.twitter.com/vBUh1NGYOH
But that touchdown was certainly entertaining and needed in the moment, giving Notre Dame a 14-3 lead after some first-quarter consternation following a fumbled kickoff return. In the long run, though, it was the four-yard pass to sophomore tight end Holden Staes to give the Irish a 35-3 halftime lead that was most entertaining and promising.
Head coach Marcus Freeman orchestrated the scoring opportunity with defensive decisions for the second week in a row. Tennessee State took possession with 5:05 left in the half, having managed a total of 3:04 of possession on its last three drives combined.
“I said, ‘Man, if we can get a stop here, I want to have a two-minute drive,’” Freeman said Saturday night. “I was really calculating when we were going to use those timeouts. … We used two of them there, and I wanted to keep one timeout for our offense to have a two-minute drive.”
After second-and-goal, the Irish called timeout. (The Tigers had a 61-yard kickoff return to start the drive from the plus-38-yard line.) And then again after third-and-goal with just about a minute left on the clock. The Tigers missed their field goal attempt, just as Navy did a week ago, and Hartman was off to the races, just as he was a week ago.
A year ago, Freeman would have been trying to help Tennessee State run out the clock.
“It’s a level of comfort knowing that you can put that guy — sometimes when you don’t have that confidence in your quarterback, you’re not going to call timeout. You’re going to say, let the clock run out, let’s get out of this half and go to the locker room,” Freeman said. “I wanted to get the ball in Sam Hartman’s hands to run our offense in that two-minute situation because I’ve seen it over and over, him go out and execute.”
Looking at last season, Freeman actively did not call those timeouts in similar situations in the season opener at Ohio State and in the bowl game against South Carolina. He sought it out only against Navy and Syracuse, both yielding touchdowns, though the former was in part manufactured by a punt block.
There should not be a chance at a quick drive that Freeman will turn down this season.
“I have the utmost confidence if we have probably at least 20 seconds — 20 to 30 seconds on the clock before half, I’m going to call a timeout and try to get the offense the ball,” he said.
Those are the most entertaining moments in college football, even more so now that they are the rare moments the clock will stop after first downs. That rule change alone incurs enough reason for these two weeks of test drives: Remind the younger offensive players how the last two minutes of the half are different. For Hartman, five years of playing under the old rule probably means he always assumes the clock stops after a first down, understandably so.
At some point, that distinction will matter late in a tight game. Freeman will get Hartman the ball in the final minute of a half, and those touchdown displays — junior Jayden Thomas in the final 15 seconds of the half in Dublin — will have provided far more than seven points in a blowout.
“We haven’t been in that situation yet where we can let it fly and drive, put something together in a two-minute fashion going into the half,” Hartman said. “Those are important in a lot of games. It was great to get some work at it.”
To show an opponent respect, you play as hard as you can #GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/OpjZ7xQ1X3
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 3, 2023
Those two-minute drive chances speak to more than Hartman’s command of the Irish offense, connecting with junior tight end Mitchell Evans three times in a row for 49 yards on that drive before finding Staes for the score, Hartman’s first completed passes to Notre Dame tight ends. First of all, Freeman has those timeouts on hand because the offense is not burning them in presnap situations.
When Freeman praised the offensive operations against Navy, this was the bonus of Hartman and new offensive coordinator Gerad Parker working well together.
Furthermore, Freeman trusts Hartman not to be loose with the ball. Creating an added possession in the final 30 seconds of a half will require Hartman to push the ball downfield while not gifting a mistake to the opposition.
Opening the season with the overmatched Midshipmen and Notre Dame’s first-ever game against a historically Black university left little room for positive proof from the Irish. If Hartman led touchdown drives on nine of his 12 possessions, that would have been simply meeting expectations.
But to add two successful two-minute drills has exceeded those thoughts. Notre Dame now knows it has a potent offense no matter the situation, no matter the time, a meaningful entertainment factor the Irish lacked from beginning to end of Freeman’s debut season.