The Rice Owls are trying to prove that last year’s very successful season, with a conference title, was not just one really good season. The Owls will want to try to back up that result in 2014.
Rice Owls @ Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Saturday, August 30th – 3:40 PM ET
Odds: Notre Dame -21
Why Rice Can Cover The Spread
They are a good team with solid coaching and a belief that they can compete with anyone. Last year, Rice didn’t beat Texas A&M on the road in a season-opening game, but the Owls played well in the first two and a half quarters against an A&M team that was without Johnny Manziel for a portion of that contest. Rice’s offense embarrassed Texas A&M’s defense for much of the first half, making Texas A&M quite uncomfortable. If Rice can come out of the locker room in South Bend, Ind., and play as well in the first half this year as it did against A&M last year, the Owls could really cause trouble for the Fighting Irish.
It’s important to remember that Notre Dame has four players who have been suspended for this game, and at least two of them were projected as starters while the other two were likely to get some playing time. Wide receiver DaVaris Daniels, defensive end Ishaq Williams, cornerback KeiVarae Russell, and linebacker Kendall Moore are all being held out of the lineup while the university continues and tries to complete an investigation into possible academic wrongdoing involving the use of a tutor who wrote papers for them. If Rice can play a strong first half and stay close with the Irish through 40 minutes or so, the final 20 minutes could get very interesting in a hurry. This is something the Owls are counting on if they can start this game they way they’d like.
Why Notre Dame Can Cover The Spread
They have been reading and hearing all about the four suspended players for the past few weeks. Notre Dame’s active players are tired of being peppered with questions about the subject. Many are thinking that Notre Dame just won’t be able to stand in and take punches in the same way without four members of the team that were supposed to contribute to the cause. This is going to fire up the Fighting Irish. They will want to prove that they can withstand a big blow and carry on as usual. This is going to be a chance for a team to come closer together and show what it is made of. As good as Rice is, the Owls are still just a team from Conference USA, not one of the stronger conferences in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Fighting Irish can push around the Owls at the line of scrimmage, and that will be enough to get them to a dominant win in this one.
Outlook
If Notre Dame is sharp from the outset, it will blow out Rice and cover. However, there have been too many disruptions and distractions for that to be viewed as a probable event. Rice won’t win, but it will cover.
Pick: Rice +21
