I am a lifelong ND fan and a graduate of Rice.
Due to the headline news concerning ND losing three starters to academic sanctions ... the line in the Rice game moved from 23.5 down to 20.5. That is ridiculous. The 3 starters ND loses are:
Davaris Daniels WR
Kavarie Russell CB
Ishaq Williams DE
ND has a log jam at WR and Rice cannot cover the likes of Chris Brown, Will Fuller or Corey Robinson, nor the back-ups behind them.
Russell is considered to be one of the top CB prospects in the country, but ND has a top transfer from FL at the other CB position and stable of 4 star back-ups. Losing Russell will not impact the score against Rice - maybe USC, but not Rice.
Williams is a first-time starter at DE and ND is deep with big and fast athletes to replace him.
But ...... the real point is that Rice cannot possibly stop ND on offense. ND is vastly improved at QB with the return of Golson, who as a freshman was 11-0 as a starter during the regular season. Golson is surrounded by top-flight talent, especially at RB. ND should be able to name the score in this game, and they definitely do not slow down before creating a 3 TD cushion. Last year Rice had a Sr laden team and they're replacing many starters. Not that it would have mattered. They are athletically over-matched and this ND Team will have something to prove. And there is fierce competition at almost every position. The second-stringers are mostly close to starting and will want to impress after ND builds a comfortable lead.
The margin of this game should be 30+ and dropping the line to 20.5 is just the safety cushion you want to regard it as a safe bet.