DUBLIN — Sam Hartman looked right at home taking the snaps for Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish, as has become their habit, looked right at home taking on rival Navy on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
Hartman threw four touchdown passes in his Notre Dame debut, and the 13th-ranked Irish routed Navy 42-3 on Saturday in Ireland’s capital in the season opener for both teams.
Notre Dame scored at will by air and on the ground against the Midshipmen, improving to 3-0 all-time against Navy in Dublin games. The Irish also won 54-27 in 1996 and 50-10 in 2012.
Hartman, a graduate transfer from Wake Forest who set Atlantic Coast Conference records during his time with the Demon Deacons, completed 19 of 23 passes for 251 yards.
“It starts up front. I had a lot of time to go through my reads and progressions, and felt comfortable,” said Hartman, who connected with Jaden Greathouse on two scoring strikes.