Week 2 of the college football season is upon us. Texas Tech won the Big 12 last year and took the opening game of the new campaign in hand, but Red Raider fans are already showing a little bit of concern after the first matchup. Now, the team travels to Corvallis to take on the Oregon State Beavers, who came close to upsetting another Big 12 program in their own first game.
Here’s a preview, prediction and pick for Texas Tech vs. Oregon State in Week 2 of the 2026 college football season.
Texas Tech vs. Oregon State prediction, preview
Texas Tech comes off a 12-win campaign in 2025 and started the 2026 campaign with a win in Lubbock over Abilene Christian. Yet, it doesn’t sound like the fanbase is particularly enthused after the 33-10 victory; it seems expectations were higher than just winning the opener.
Those feelings are somewhat understandable given that the Red Raiders entered Week 1 as a 44.5-point favorite against the Wildcats. There were certainly some yellow flags on display, such as a stagnant red-zone offense that suggests one of last year’s weaknesses may have carried over into the new year. Against a team from the FCS, a College Football Playoff contender probably should’ve delivered a stronger result on the scoreboard. However, ACU has been one of the stronger programs at its own level over the last few years, so there’s not exactly reason to panic yet for Tech. The Red Raiders still finished with 471 yards of offense, fueled by an efficient 26-for-33 outing with 298 yards, a touchdown and a pick from Will Hammond. J’Koby Williams showed juice in the backfield with 128 scrimmage yards and a score, another bright spot. And of course, the defense held the opposition to 194 yards while racking up three sacks and an interception.
As for Oregon State, the program is under new management after winning just two games last year and hiring JaMarcus Sheppard as head coach. If Week 1 was any indication, perhaps there’s some reason for optimism moving forward in a rebuilt Pac-12.
The Beavers hung around for most of the day against the Houston Cougars last week, keeping things within one score until the fourth quarter. After putting a Big 12 opponent on upset watch, this program should feel pretty satisfied with how the season began. Three key pieces of the offense – quarterback Braden Atkinson, wideout Xayvion Noland and tight end Eric Olsen – all transferred in from the FCS and are adjusting to the new level of competition at a higher level. Atkinson did throw for 376 yards and a score in his first FBS start, while Olson had four grabs for 54 yards and Noland caught three balls for 34. It was actually Jesse Legree who popped for Oregon State, racking up 136 yards and a score on five receptions. The offense was solid overall with 402 total yards, but the defense will be tested this week after allowing 533 yards on the other end in the opener.
Texas Tech vs. Oregon State pick, best bet
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Texas Tech enters as a 26.5-point favorite with -3200 odds on the Moneyline. Oregon State holds +1400 odds of an outright upset. The game total sits at 53.5 combined points between these teams.
Given the red-zone struggles and largely vanilla play calling from the Red Raiders in the season opener, taking them to cover this large spread is a bit of a tough sell. Hammond looked solid in his first game of the year, but he lacked the explosiveness as a runner that made him dangerous as a spot starter last season – coming off a torn ACL, that’s not a total shock. Texas Tech also rarely dialed up the deep ball, though the lackluster offense may have stemmed from a desire to keep most of the tricks in the playbook off film before a Week 3 conference tilt against Houston.
The Beavers’ defense did play quite poorly last week, which bodes fairly well for a bounce-back performance for the TTU attack. However, I’d much rather bet on the Red Raiders’ defense to shut down their opponent in this matchup – this unit was one of the best in college football last year, looked quite nice in the opener, and to top it off, possesses one of the deepest front sevens in the sport. Waves of pass rushers should keep Atkinson uncomfortable while the trenches shut down an Oregon State run game that managed only 26 rushing yards last week. With that in mind, I’m on the under for the Beavers’ team total here.
Best Bet: Oregon State under 13.5 points (-110)
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