Sam Hartman Provided Much Of The Excitement During Wake Forest’s Recent Run Of Success

After being named MVP of last Friday’s Gasparilla Bowl win over Missouri, Sam Hartman stood at midfield and thanked the coaching staff, his teammates and the fans for supporting him during his time at Wake Forest.

The 23-year-old Charlotte native was essentially saying goodbye as he was not expected to return to Wake for his final season of eligibility, though he had yet to announce what his next step would be. That question appeared to be answered Tuesday with reports indicating Hartman, the centerpiece of much of Wake’s recent success, entered the transfer portal.

Led in large part by Hartman, the Demon Deacons have enjoyed a nice run on the gridiron. In 115 years of football, they have won as many as eight games only 10 times. Four such seasons have come in the last six years, and with the quarterback guiding the program to a 19-8 mark in the last two.

Last year’s 11-3 showing equaled the school record (2006) for most wins in a season and, with a little luck, Wake might have recorded back-to-back, double-digit win seasons for the first time in its history.

Coach Dave Clawson’s team opened this season 6-1 and checked in at No. 10 in the AP poll, matching the highest ranking in program history, which was achieved when the Wake started 8-0 last season. The only stain in the first seven games was a double-overtime loss to visiting Clemson in the ACC opener. The Demon Deacons then proceeded to lose four of their final five regular-season contests, including being swept by their in-state conference opponents: a nine-point loss at North Carolina State and losses by a combined five points to North Carolina and Duke after leading both games in the late stages of the fourth quarter.

It was a difficult stretch that could take a toll, including a loss of focus in the month leading up to the Gasparilla Bowl. Alas, Wake dug deep.

“So many times, when you see things not going a team’s way, they kind of give up or stop working,” said Clawson, following the bowl win. “We never did that. We were 6-1 and No. 10 in the country and then we lost some close games. But our guys never stopped working, they never stopped preparing and they never stopped believing in each other.”

There was no letdown against Mizzou. Rather, the Demon Deacons got the late touchdown they needed to seal their fifth bowl win (5-2) in Clawson’s nine years in Winston-Salem. In fact, his team has gone bowling in each of the last seven seasons, a school record and the second-longest active streak (Clemson, 18) in the ACC.

Sure, 11 wins a year ago raised the bar, but eight is not so bad.

“I think there is going to be a little bit of a narrative that it was a disappointing season,” said Clawson, 59-53 at Wake and one win removed from 150 in his coaching career. “I take pride that 8-5 is now disappointing at Wake Forest. These guys have changed the standard.”

Hartman, who had a blood clot removed in August and missed Wake’s opener against VMI, was at the top of the list of those who were largely responsible for the change. The icing on the cake to his career at Wake, on a chilly night in Tampa, came in the form of three touchdown passes. The first scoring strike, five yards to Taylor Morin in the first quarter, was the 108^th of his career. That broke the ACC mark held by Clemson’s Tajh Boyd.

“I get a lot of the press, but I couldn’t do it without each and every one,” said Hartman, of his teammates, after defeating Missouri. “Every single day they made it worth taking the hits and doing everything else. It’s a special group here. It starts with (Clawson) and goes down from there. It has been incredible.”

In the weeks leading up to the bowl, and during the press conference that followed, reporters attempted to pin down Hartman’s immediate future. The chances of it snowing in Tampa on the evening of the bowl game were probably better than the QB tipping his hand.

Clawson, though, left no doubt about how he felt about Hartman.

“Sam has been awesome,” he said.

The 55-year-old coach also noted how the seniors “really developed the program.”

A small sample in the larger picture of that development was how Wake closed the season, something that underscored the culture Clawson has built since his arrival in December 2013. While clinging to a three-point lead against Mizzou in the fourth quarter, none of the few thousand Wake fans in attendance at Raymond James Stadium and those watching at home could be blamed if they got the sense that the stage was set for another disappointing finish. Instead, led by a determined group of veteran players, the Demon Deacons closed out the Tigers and flew home for the Christmas weekend feeling good about themselves.

“You look at all of the close games and at no point did we ever lose one of those games, and then not show up the next week,” said Clawson. “The execution wasn’t always great, but the effort and preparation (was). This team kept its foot on the gas pedal. When you start out 8-0 and win 10 (regular season) games, that’s easy to do. When you start 6-1 and you don’t finish the way you want, you lose some heartbreaking games, sometimes (keeping the foot on the gas) gets hard to do.”

With the loss of a handful of key contributors, maintaining the level of success that Wake has experienced in recent seasons will not be easy. It never is. Yet, the aforementioned culture allows several younger players to step up and keep the momentum going.

“The future (at Wake) is bright,” said senior defensive tackle Tyler Williams. “We just try to set an example for all of the young guys around us.”