What is Sam Hartman studying at Notre Dame? Former Wake Forest QB's academic background explored

Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman made waves when he entered the transfer portal from Wake Forest, where he had played for five years.

At Wake Forest, he set several records, sits at No. 2 on the ACC passing yards list with 12,967 yards, and tops the ACC list of touchdown passes with 110.

What is Sam Hartman studying at Notre Dame?

At Notre Dame, Sam Hartman is a non-degree-seeking student who is a communications major and a journalism minor.

When speaking about his decision to join Notre Dame from Wake Forest, he clarified that he hoped it would convince NFL teams that he could succeed in different systems.

“This is what you have to do when you go into the league, is come into a new place where there’s not a lot of familiar faces.”

A tough start for Sam Hartman and Notre Dame

Before the game against Lousiville, Sam Hartman had not thrown an interception in a Notre Dame jersey in 149 pass attempts. Against the Cardinals, he threw three interceptions.

With that loss, the No. 10 ranked Fighting Irish lost hope of making the college football playoffs, and a promising start has been extinguished within two weekends.

Losing to the Ohio State Buckeyes wasn't the worst result in the world, but the defeat against the Louisville Cardinals was disastrous for Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman.

The attention that the Fighting Irish attract is different from anything Hartman experienced while playing for the Demon Deacons. He admitted as much after first joining Notre Dame.

“It’s different,” Hartman said. “It’s special here. There’s a lot of eyes (on you), which is pretty obvious at this point. I think you never really know until you’re out of it what it means to be in this position. Just as much as I can, I’m trying to soak it in. It’s a high-pressure, pivotal season for myself and more than myself – this team and this university.”

After the game against Louisville, Freeman explained how challenging the game had been for Hartman.

“No, nobody’s affected our quarterback quite like Louisville did, and so you have to give them credit. And they were stacking the box and saying, ‘We’re going to refuse to let you run the ball.’ And that means we’ve got to make some plays in the passing game. And so, we didn’t, and we’ve got to make sure that we have this not happen again.”

Hartman has thrown for 1,712 yards, resulting in 16 touchdowns this season, which shows he's still among the top quarterbacks in college football.