Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Rice Owls Point Spread Picks

Notre Dame (#17) has three home games to open the season and gets a soft Rice defense here. The Irish have a terrific coach in Brian Kelly and a lot of talent back on both sides of the line. Junior QB Everett Golson is back after sitting out a year (in 2012 he had 12 TDs, 6 INTs). RB Amir Carlisle steps in and joins senior TE Ben Koyack and junior WR DaVaris Daniels (745 yards), along with three starters on the O-line. The defense slipped from 2012 but was still very good. The secondary was strong and will be again, led by senior S Austin Collinsworth and junior S Elijah Shumate. The Irish used a ton of rotating personnel to run-pass routes so there's a deep well of talent here and they add senior cornerback Cody Riggs after transferring from Florida. Rice has growing pains on offense, turning things over to junior quarterback Driphus Jackson, who struggled last year in limited action, completing just 31% of his passes. There are major concerns about his ability to lead this passing game, avoiding turnovers and providing balance to an offense. The offensive line lost two starters, and then lost senior right guard Drew Carroll, who must end his career because of kidney disease. Rice has a small, speed-based defense that will be okay in Conference USA, but not against huge lines like the Irish have. Rice has gotten mauled in openers the last three years (0-3 SU, 1-2 ATS) losing to Texas, UCLA and Texas A&M by 25, 25 and 21 points. Lay the points on Notre Dame.