CFB Wagering: The Rice Owls are coming off one of the most successful seasons in their modern history as they won the Conference USA Championship but now must replace their starting QB and five starters on each side of the line. The No. 17 Notre Dame Fighting Irish entered training camp full of anticipation with the return of junior QB Everett Golson off a one-year suspension but have been rocked with an academic fraud scandal, which was why Golson was suspended for last year. Four starters were kicked off the team following this most recent investigation. It is a disturbing trend that has cast a dark cloud over fifth year head coach Brian Kelly and his program.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will host the Rice Owls at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday with coverage on NBC starting at 3:30 PM ET. BetDSI opened with Notre Dame as a 20.5 point favorite.
Bowl for Rice?
Eighth year head coach David Bailiff will have quite the challenge in replacing top rusher Charles Ross and QB Taylor McHargue as junior Driphus Jackson Jr. will be under center. This year Bailiff is likely to employ a committee approach to the offensive backfield. The defensive line and linebackers look solid but the secondary is a worry. Rice has covered the spread in seven out of their last 10 games in non-conference action and has paid out in six out of their last seven games as a road dog.
Tarnished Gold
The Fighting Irish do have the benefit of Golson’s return as he led them to the 2012 BCS championship game and there will be six starters back with him. By all accounts the offense looks dangerous but the questions remain on defense where former coordinator Bob Diaco’s bend but don’t break approach did not hold opponents off the board as effectively last year and Brian VanGorder arrives from the NFL and before that was a highly successful DC at Georgia. Just five starters return to the defensive unit. Notre Dame has been a weak board value as a home favorite with just 18 payouts in their last 56 games in that role.
Our Pick
The number is a big one for the Irish to cover and their lack of reliability as a home chalk combined with Rice’s good board value in this role make Rice plus the points the call.
