Sam Hartman threw for 277 yards and four touchdowns and No. 19 Notre Dame pulled away for a 45-7 win against visiting Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon in South Bend, Ind.
Hartman, a transfer from Wake Forest, completed 21 of 29 passes without a turnover against his former team. He was intercepted seven times in his previous four games.
Audric Estime led the Notre Dame ground attack with 115 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown.
Rico Flores Jr. caught eight passes for 102 yards. Tobias Merriweather, Eli Raridon, Devyn Ford, Jaden Greathouse and Jordan Faison each hauled in touchdown passes for the Fighting Irish (8-3).
Wake Forest quarterback Michael Kern completed 11 of 20 passes for 80 yards, and running back Justice Ellison had 63 yards on 15 carries.
The Fighting Irish scored on their third possession when Hartman hit a wide-open Ford out of the backfield for a 12-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 54 seconds left in the first quarter.
Wake Forest (4-7) used two trick plays on their next drive to set up its only touchdown of the game.
Jahmal Banks completed a 17-yard double pass to Ke’Shawn Williams and Williams later ran the ball 20 yards instead of attempting another double pass, moving the ball inside the Notre Dame 10-yard line.
One play later, Tate Carney scored on a 9-yard touchdown run to tie it 7-7 with 11:41 left in the half.
Hartman found Merriweather deep over the middle for a 35-yard touchdown, moving the Fighting Irish ahead 14-7 with 7:06 left in the half.
After blocking a 30-yard field goal try by the Demon Deacons, Notre Dame moved ahead 17-7 on Spencer Shrader’s 37-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.
The Fighting Irish recovered a fumble on the opening drive of the second half and quickly capitalized on Raridon’s 19-yard touchdown reception to make it 24-7.
Notre Dame didn’t take advantage after recovering the ensuing onside kick, but quickly got the ball back after stopping the Demon Deacons on downs. Estime scored on a 2-yard run to make it 31-7 with 5:22 left in the third quarter.
Greathouse sprung loose for a 48-yard catch and run to extend the lead to 38-7 with 13:24 remaining in the game.
Steve Angeli took over for Hartman and hit Faison for a 17-yard score to make it 45-7 with 3:56 left.
–Field Level Media
