DURHAM, N.C. — Notre Dame lecturer Marcus Freeman by no means wavered in his trust that quarterback Sam Hartman would supremacy the Irish to a comeback win towards Duke on Saturday evening.

Although Hartman had lower than 3 mins and just about all the space of the soccer garden to get it finished.

Trailing 14-13, the Notre Dame offense took the garden from its personal 5-yard layout. Duke’s soldout public used to be in a frenzy, sensing a plenty past used to be on its doorstep — the prospective to overcome two manage 15 groups within the first 5 weeks of the season.

However Hartman is not any rookie. Now in his 6th season, he has necessarily been a starter since his freshman season at Wake Jungle in 2018. He has performed on this stadium prior to now; he has led fourth-quarter comebacks, prior to now, too. Just about did it a moment in the past towards Ohio Order.

Notre Dame began transferring the ball. The primary large third-down conversion got here on third-and-10, with a 19-yard go to tight finish Mitchell Evans. However an offensive go interference penalty threatened to stall the pressure and hand Duke the win. Expecting what used to be about to occur, a number of Duke scholars hopped ill onto the garden, virtually giddy.

Dealing with fourth-and-16 with 51 seconds left from the Duke 47, Hartman dropped again. Nobody used to be revealed, so he made up our minds to get going operating. Duke, which had restrained the tough Notre Dame operating duel for the majority of the sport, misplaced optical of Hartman. He received 17 yards. First ill.

The scholars checked out each and every alternative, as though to mention, “Are you kidding me?”

Notre Dame spiked the ball at the after play games. Nearest, Audric Estime ran 30 yards for the game-winning rating with 31 seconds left at the clock, giving Notre Dame a 21-14 win and its thirtieth directly regular-season win over an ACC staff — passing 1992-95 Florida Order for the longest streak all-time.

As wretched as final moment’s last-second 17-14 loss to Ohio Order used to be, this moment supplied the euphoria that includes successful.

“You [have] all the feelings that you can think of and fathom running off that field,” Hartman mentioned in a while. “Those moments are very few and fleeting. You only get 12, and if you’re lucky you win most of those and then the other ones are heartbreaking.

“Latter moment used to be wretched, and to return again and display resilience, it’s in reality Schoolmaster [Freeman]. His messaging by no means adjustments. You don’t really feel like, ‘Oh as a result of we misplaced, he doesn’t like us.’ He took the blame and all of us took the blame, took a glance within the replicate, got here out right here and accomplished.”

Freeman went back to the Ohio State game as a teachable moment for everyone — beyond the 10 men on the field. He mentioned Hartman failing to get a fourth-and-1 early in the third quarter on a run that went for no gain.

“He concept we were given it, and we didn’t,” Freeman said. “There can’t be a possibly in that condition, so I don’t support if it’s fourth-and-one or fourth-and-18. Should you’re taking to get going, it’s a must to construct positive we get a primary ill, and that’s what he did.”

On Saturday, Freeman said he told the offense before it took the field for the game-winning drive to forget about what had happened previously and focus on each play. Notre Dame struggled throughout the game to get its running game going, as the Duke defensive front set the tempo. Before the late Estime run, Notre Dame had only 129 yards rushing in the game.

But with Hartman, the game is never really over.

“When Sam Hartman is your quarterback, you may have a quantity of religion,” Freeman said. “He’s been in the ones moments, he’s now not a first-time quarterback. This past wasn’t too large for him. I don’t need to simply give credit score to at least one individual, however the performs he made on that form have been plenty, the facility to run for it, I in point of fact imagine in my center he realized from final moment’s fourth-and-1.”

Freeman said Estime was supposed to have gone down at the 1-yard line in that situation so the Irish could let the clock run down and then kick the game-winning field goal.

“We apply that. We almost definitely must walk ill proper there on the 1-yard layout and kick a garden objective and win the sport that means,” Freeman said. “I’m satisfied he scored. I’m satisfied we received.”

Said Estime: “Now not gonna lie, I noticed a possibility and I took it.”

The Notre Dame defense kept the Irish in the game, slowing down Riley Leonard for long stretches. Duke had the ball with 2:46 left with a chance to put the game away, but Jordan Waters lost 2 yards on third down, forcing a pooch punt down to the 5 to give Notre Dame its last shot.

Hartman joked he wanted to buy defensive coordinator Al Golden “a Ferrari or one thing as a result of he saved us on this duel and that protection performed their hearts out and gave us that anticipation.”

On his fourth-down conversion, Hartman said, “There’s now not a quantity of excellent requires fourth and that lengthy. In point of fact it comes all the way down to our protection. Everybody’s going to indicate to that because the game-winner, however as final moment, the protection has to present us a anticipation to get the ball again and walk ill and rating.”