Sam Hartman A Top Heisman Candidate According to Lindy's
It has been a long time since Notre Dame has won a national championship, and even longer since the Irish had a Heisman Trophy winner. In its preseason college football magazine, Lindy's Sports listed Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman as the No. 5 player on its preseason Heisman Trophy Watch List.
Hartman certainly has the numbers to warrant such interest, and playing on a much bigger stage will help him be a viable Heisman candidate if he can repeat his past production and lead the Irish to double-digit wins.
"Can't win the Heisman at Wake Forest. You CAN at Notre Dame. He could become the eight, which would match USC (despite Reggie Bush giving back his 2005 trophy)." - Lindy's Sports
Over the last two seasons, Hartman passed for 7,929 yards and 77 touchdowns, and in 2021 he led the Demon Deacons to the ACC championship game. Hartman also rushed for 12 more touchdowns, giving him 89 total touchdowns the last two seasons. During that stretch, only Will Rogers of Mississippi State (8,713 yards), Bryce Young of Alabama (8,200 yards) and CJ Stroud of Ohio State (8,123 yards) passed for more yards than Hartman, and only Stroud (85) and Young (79) passed for more touchdowns.
No quarterback in college football accounted for more total touchdowns than the 89 Hartman produced the last two seasons. Hartman accounted for 50 total touchdowns (39 passing, 11 rushing) in 2021, and he followed that up with 39 touchdowns (38 passing, 1 rushing) this past season.
Playing at Wake Forest made it impossible for Hartman to get the publicity needed to be a legitimate Heisman contender. That will not be the case at Notre Dame, where Hartman will get plenty of chances to play in spotlight games, including an October 14th matchup against Caleb Williams, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.
Tim Brown is the last Notre Dame player to win a Heisman Trophy, something he did back in 1987. Two years later, quarterback Tony Rice finished fourth in Heisman voting (1989). The following season, wide receiver Raghib "Rocket" Ismail was the Heisman runner up (1990). Two seasons after that, running back Reggie Brooks finished fifth in Heisman voting (1992).
It wasn't until 2005 that another Notre Dame player finished in the top ten of Heisman voting. Quarterback Brady Quinn finished fourth in Heisman voting in 2005 and third in 2006. In 2012, linebacker Manti Te'o was the Heisman Trophy runner up. The Irish have not had a player finish in the top five of Heisman Voting since that season.
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