He rolls out — the down’s late and yards are long. The line holds, but can’t hold without holding much longer. The routes develop and he works through his reads, but it's tight coverage on the first, no luck on the second, and the third. He stutters behind the line of scrimmage and clutches but it’s useless: he’ll have to do it himself. Sprinting around to the outside and dashing across the line, he keeps his team alive, breathing new life into a game all thought was hopeless just moments before as he idled in the pocket.
That’s what happened last Saturday as Sam Hartman, a graduate transfer from Wake Forest, picked up a clutch first down on Notre Dame’s final — and ultimately game-saving — drive against Duke.