Updated Sept. 15, 2026: The FanDuel promotion described when this article was first published was tied to the Sept. 4 college-football slate and is no longer presented here as an active offer. This page has been updated as a historical look at the two games and how the pregame expectations compared with the final results.
Two of the biggest favorites on the Friday, Sept. 4 slate were Miami against Stanford and USC against Fresno State. The original CBS Sports promotion article cited Stanford at +23.5 and Fresno State at +21.5. Both favorites ultimately won by much more than those pregame margins.
Miami beat Stanford 45-6
No. 7 Miami traveled more than 2,500 miles to Stanford and still controlled the game from the opening possessions. The Hurricanes won 45-6, building a 28-6 halftime lead and keeping Stanford out of the end zone for the entire night.
Miami’s official recap credited quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Malachi Toney with the biggest offensive performances. Toney caught 12 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns, setting a Miami single-game receiving record. The Hurricanes finished with 549 total yards and averaged 8.2 yards per play.
For anyone looking back at the original line, Miami won by 39 points. The more useful football takeaway is that the Hurricanes did not merely survive a cross-country opener; they produced explosive offense immediately and prevented Stanford from creating a meaningful second-half response.
Visit FSN’s Miami Hurricanes page or Stanford page for continuing team coverage.
USC shut out Fresno State 39-0
The second featured matchup was even more one-sided. No. 14 USC beat Fresno State 39-0 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
USC finished with 552 total yards to Fresno State’s 116. Quarterback Jayden Maiava threw for 349 yards, while freshman Trent Mosley caught two touchdown passes and finished with 104 receiving yards. Fresno State managed only 39 rushing yards and 77 passing yards.
The Trojans scored 23 points in the second quarter and led 30-0 at halftime. Two safeties added to a night in which USC controlled field position, possession and the line of scrimmage.
The original pregame spread had Fresno State as a 21.5-point underdog. USC’s 39-point victory was substantially larger than that expectation, but the more important result for the season was the completeness of the performance. The Trojans did not allow Fresno State to score and limited the Bulldogs to nine first downs.
FSN’s USC team page and Fresno State team page track the teams beyond the opener.
Why this page was updated instead of leaving the promotion live
Sportsbook promotions are time-sensitive. Bonus amounts, eligibility rules, state availability and expiration dates can change quickly. A page that continues to describe a Sept. 4 offer as available after the games have been played is not useful to readers and can be misleading.
For that reason, FSN is preserving the original context only as part of the historical record. The promotion itself is not being represented as current, and readers should not treat the old offer terms as available today.
The lasting value is the comparison between pregame expectation and game outcome. In both cases, the market correctly identified a heavy favorite, but the final margins were even larger than anticipated: Miami by 39 and USC by 39.
What the two openers actually told us
Miami’s win showed that its offense could travel and produce immediately against a conference opponent. USC’s win showed a different kind of dominance: the Trojans overwhelmed Fresno State on both sides of the ball and did not allow a point.
Neither result guarantees how the rest of the season will unfold. Early blowouts can reflect genuine team quality, a favorable matchup or both. But once the games are final, those football questions are more useful than an expired sign-up promotion.
This article will remain an archived Week 1 results page rather than an active sportsbook-offer page.