One Posluszny Too Many

Forgive Notre Dame wide receiver Jeff Samardzija if he’s had enough of the Posluszny family for a while.

On Saturday, he might get a jarring reception by Paul Posluszny, Penn State’s hard-hitting All-America linebacker. That would be a couple of months after Samardzija faced Posluszny’s brother, Stan, during last spring’s Big East baseball tourney.

Samardzija pitched for Notre Dame. He was good enough to be drafted by the Chicago Cubs. He played in their Class A affiliate over the summer.

That didn’t mean anything to Stan, who was a senior outfielder for West Virginia. He smacked a two-run home run against Samardzija in that Big East tourney game, which Notre Dame won 12-4.

Samardzija, however, got his revenge.

“I struck him out,” he said. “You have to get both sides of the story. Home runs are great, but strikeouts are cool, too.”

It would be cooler from Notre Dame’s perspective to beat the Nittany Lions and impress all the pollsters who weren’t impressed with the Georgia Tech victory.

Expect Samardzija and Posluszny to have key roles. While they likely won’t be matched up against each other, you never know what might happen on the field. That should just add to the interest in a game that, after Texas-Ohio State, ranks as the nation’s most intriguing this weekend.