Rice Owls vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 09/12/2026

Game Time: 3:30 pm ET, Saturday, September 12, 2026

Venue:  Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame, IN

Where to Watch:  NBC

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Rice +44.5, Notre Dame -44.5; Over/Under:  55.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Rice +44.5, Notre Dame -44.5; Over/Under:  55.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Rice +44.5, Notre Dame -44.5; Over/Under:  55.5 points

Rice Owls:  1-0 (0-0) (2nd place, American)

Notre Dame Fighting Irish:  1-0 (0-0) (FBS Independent)

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Rice Owls:  won their last game at home against the Houston Christian Huskies 31-3.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish:  won their last game at a neutral site against the Wisconsin Badgers 41-13.

Rice is entering this game with a 1-0 record overall and they have a 0-0 record in their conference games too. They are 1-0 in their home games, 0-0 in their road games, and they are also 0-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be on the road for this game. They won their last game against Houston Christian 31-3. Jacurri Brown was the starting QB and he completed 2/5 passes for 11 passing yards, 0 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. Tyvonn Byars led the team in rushing yards with 104. Davis Lane Jr. led the receivers with 11 receiving yards on 2 receptions. Beau Barton and Chibby Nwajuaku each led the defense in that game with 5 tackles while Chibby Nwajuaku led the defense in sacks with 2. Jerrick Harper came away with the only interception for them in that one.

 

 

 

Notre Dame is entering this game with a 1-0 record overall and they have a 0-0 record in their conference games too. They are 0-0 in their home games, 0-0 in their road games, and they are also 1-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be at home for this game. They won their last game against Wisconsin 41-13. CJ Carr was the starting QB and he completed 19/29 passes for 239 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. Aneyas Williams led the team in rushing yards with 90 and 2 TDs. Jordan Faison led the receivers with 81 receiving yards on 4 receptions. Drayk Bowen led the defense in that game with 8 tackles while Boubacar Traore and Francis Brewu each led the defense in sacks with 1. DJ McKinney came away with the only interception for them in that one.

The current betting odds have Notre Dame listed as a 44.5 point favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. Notre Dame has a 1-0 record overall this season and they looked good in week 1 against a power 4 opponent. They didn't look great in the 1st half as they were in a battle with Wisconsin, but they looked great in the 2nd half as they were able to pull away and stay in complete control of that game. That game was also at a neutral site in Wisconsin, so it was more of a road game for them and they passed that test with flying colors once they got going. Now they are coming back home for their home opener and will likely use this game to fine-tune things that didn't look great last week. The defense looked a lot better in the 2nd half once they got into rhythm, but the offense was still choppy at times, so they will be looking for more consistency here against this weaker defense. Meanwhile, Rice has a 1-0 record overall this season after beating up on Houston Christian to start the season. Their defense looked great as they won 31-3 and didn't let HCU do much offensively, but Rice didn't look great on offense themselves. They only put up 31 points at home against a team from the FCS and they didn't have any passing game at all which is going to be a common theme for them this year with their style of play. That isn't going to help them when they get into a hole in this game though and they will have no way of coming back once they fall behind. Notre Dame isn't going to have much trouble defending this Rice offense with one of the best defenses in the nation, so look for Notre Dame to roll in this home opener as they work out the kinks in their own offense. The best way to place a bet here is on Notre Dame to cover the spread in this game. 

Rice Notre Dame Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, September 12, 2026 (3:30 pm ET start time) is Notre Dame 56 Rice 7.

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Rice Owls: 3-10 ATS on the road off a home blowout win by 28 points or more. 11-22 ATS on the road after allowing 14 points or less last game. 7-2 UNDER as a road underdog. 4-0 UNDER on the road in non-conference games.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish: 18-9 ATS against FBS division opponents. 16-8 ATS as a favorite. 8-4 ATS when the total is between 49.5 and 56. 8-3 ATS after scoring 37 points or more last game. 6-3 UNDER at home after allowing 14 points or less last game. 5-2 UNDER at home after a game with a turnover margin of +2 or better.

Rice Owls:  None.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish:  B. Hebert (QB) Questionable - Undisclosed. Q. Porter (WR) Questionable - Knee. K. Viliamu-Asa (LB) Questionable - Knee.

“We had the ball for 40 minutes (39:32), ran for 465 yards, and gave up only three points. I’m disappointed we didn’t have more takeaways. We need to do better against our next opponent (at Notre Dame next Saturday).” - Scott Abel after his team’s win against HCU in their last game. 

“Human nature is maybe you look at somebody else’s record last year — and everybody has expectations on what you should be this year — to think this is how this game should go. I don't know how they thought it would go, but I wanted to make sure at halftime they knew it was going to be a babble and going to be a struggle. I told them that all week. Sometimes you don't believe it until you're in it.” - Marcus Freeman after his team’s win against Wisconsin in their last game. 

WR Walker, Braylen

WR Grice, Ben

WR Jackson, Quinton

TE Zinter, Preston

QB Brown, Jacurri

RB Byars, Tyvonn

WR Faison, Jordan

WR Gilbert, Micah

WR Graham, Mylan

TE Flanagan, Cooper

QB Carr, CJ 

RB Williams, Aneyas

Passing: Gael Ochoa (17)

Rushing: Tyvonn Byars (104)

Receiving: Davis Lane (11)

Touchdowns: Quinton Jackson (2)

Passing: CJ Carr (239)

Rushing: Aneyas Williams (90)

Receiving: Jordan Faison (81)

Touchdowns: Aneyas Williams (2)

Coaches:

Rice Owls: Scott Abell (2nd season)

Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Marcus Freeman (6th season)