Oregon State vs. San Diego State: Prediction, odds and picks for College Football Week 2

It's time to continue our college football odds series with a prediction and pick for Oregon State-San Diego State. Find out how to watch Oregon State-San Diego State.

The Oregon State Beavers and the San Diego State Aztecs have one thing in common this year: They both have first-year coaches who have a lot to prove.

Oregon State is led by head coach Trent Bray, who was Jonathan Smith's defensive coordinator for the past couple of seasons. When Smith decided to leave Oregon State and head to the Big Ten and Michigan State — a move that was necessary for Smith due to the demise of the Pac-12 and the lack of power conference football in Oregon State's future schedule (the Beavers and their Pac-12 neighbor Washington State will play several games against Mountain West teams this year, this game being a prime example) — Bray easily could have accompanied his boss to East Lansing. Instead, he wanted to stay with his players and continue coaching them. The desire to be a head coach in Corvallis outweighed the desire to coach in the Big Ten. Bray wants to make a statement about his own abilities, but also the caliber of players he has at Oregon State. This year is a test for the Beavers in many ways.

Sean Lewis was coaching at Kent State, but then he got an attractive offer he couldn't refuse: an offer from Deion Sanders. If Coach Prime offers you a spot on his staff at Colorado as offensive coordinator, are you going to say no? Lewis obviously took the job because he thought it could be a catapult for his career. He certainly received a lot more attention in Boulder under Deion than he did at Kent State. Deion didn't have much patience with him, though. Sanders fired him as soon as the 2023 season fell apart. That's how Coach Prime ticks in the volatile environment he created all by himself. Lewis was probably happy to get out of that media circus and into a calmer, more reasonable situation. San Diego State offered an invitation, and it was too good for Lewis to turn down. Now he's leading an Aztec program that was very good not too long ago but has fallen on very hard times.

Trent Bray and Sean Lewis, who have been through a lot as trainers over the past year, will now face off in a late-night fight on Saturday. It should be quite interesting in San Diego.

Here are the odds for Oregon State-San Diego State college football, courtesy of FanDuel.

College football odds: Oregon State-San Diego State odds

Oregon State: -5.5 (-115)

Money line: -215

San Diego State: +5.5 (-105)

Money line: +176

Over: 55.5 (-106)

Under: 55.5 (-114)

How to watch Oregon State vs. San Diego State

Time: 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT

TV: CBS Sports Network

Stream: fuboTV (Free Trial)

Why Oregon State could cover the spread/profit

The San Diego State Aztecs were really, really bad on offense in the first half of their game against Texas A&M-Commerce last week. The Aztecs, playing against an underclassman, scored just three points. It's true that SDSU then scored 42 points in the second half, but what happened in a full 30 minutes? When a team is so bad against an opponent that it should completely dominate them, something is wrong, everything is not right. Oregon State's defense should be able to contain San Diego State's offense and make sure the Aztecs never really get going. That will be enough for the Beavers to make up the modest point difference. An OSU win by at least a touchdown seems reasonable.

Why San Diego State could cover the spread/profit

The Aztecs were awful in the first half, but they were outstanding in the second half of their Week 1 win. They may have figured it out at halftime, as Sean Lewis made the necessary adjustments to get the offense going.

Additionally, Oregon State hasn't had a great start to the season. The Beavers led Idaho State by a modest 16 points late in the game before scoring a touchdown to win 23-38-15. Oregon State also has a lot of improvement to do after a less than convincing start. SDSU isn't the only one that needs to improve.

Final Oregon State-San Diego State Prediction and Picks

San Diego State's first half last week makes us think the Aztecs are in trouble. Take Oregon State.

Final Oregon State-San Diego State prediction and pick: Oregon State -5.5