Sam Hartman has said goodbye to college football, ending his one-year stint at Notre Dame. The veteran quarterback posted a video on Instagram on Monday heavily implying he will opt out of the Sun Bowl on Dec. 29 against No. 19 Oregon State in order to begin his NFL draft preparations.
Inside ND Sports cemented those implications, a Notre Dame spokesperson confirming Hartman’s intentions to skip the bowl game.
Hartman ends his time in a plain gold helmet with 2,689 passing yards and 24 touchdowns in just 12 starts, adding another three scores on the ground.
Last winter, Hartman was the best quarterback available on the transfer market, making it rather impressive that the Irish pulled him in for his final season of collegiate eligibility. The lack of Notre Dame receivers, both in quantity and in quality, lowered Hartman’s ceiling, particularly when junior tight end Mitchell Evans tore his ACL in October.
Across six seasons and 60 games — the first five and 48 coming at Wake Forest — Hartman threw 134 career touchdowns and for 15,656 yards, good for Nos. 3 and 5 all-time, respectively.
A bowl game would have given Hartman a strong chance at No. 4 all-time in career yardage, just 137 yards behind former Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell (2005-08) and allowed him to break a tie with Harrell at No. 3 in touchdown passes, but otherwise, Hartman had little to gain against the Beavers.
NFL front offices have more tape to watch of Hartman than they do any other prospect. They know what they could get, for better or for worse.
His 2023 highs showcased the same efficiency that made him an ACC record-holder with the Demon Deacons, while his low (the 33-20 loss at Louisville in early October) shined a light on his penchant for turning the ball over in bunches.
Without Hartman, Notre Dame will turn to current sophomore Steve Angeli to start in El Paso, giving him his first chance at a genuine impression. Current freshman quarterback Kenny Minchey may also see significant action.
As @PWagon60 points out, Notre Dame is now only a 6.5-point favorite across the board.
— Douglas Farmer (@D_Farmer) December 11, 2023
Just a wild overreaction to Sam Hartman opting out, which was baked into the number a week ago at -8.5.
That decision has been all-but known and entirely expected.
Angeli appeared in seven games this season, completing 19 of 25 passes for 272 yards and four touchdowns with one interception against Stanford. Most of those yards came on checkdowns that then sprung loose, Angeli running only a modest offense late in blowouts.
Minchey played in two games, completing both his pass attempts for 12 total yards.
As far as evaluating them against Oregon State goes, the Beavers have a stout defense, ranked No. 39 in the country in expected points added per dropback against. Opponents threw 12 interceptions and 20 touchdowns against Oregon State this season, but if one removes the season-ending back-to-back games against Washington and Oregon and their Heisman-finalist quarterbacks, those numbers are 12 interceptions and 16 touchdowns.
You heard the banana, it’s peanut butter Angeli time. #GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/oVk7uuX7YC
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) December 11, 2023
