Tag: Zachariah Branch USC

How special is Zachariah Branch? Consider all the players compared to him

Zachariah Branch elicited comparisons on social media to several memorably great college football players. We have proof.

Zachariah Branch made his USC debut a spectacular and memorable one.

It’s hard to make more of an impression than Branch did in his first game as a Trojan. A 96-yard kickoff return and a 25-yard touchdown is quite a one-two punch for a first game as a college freshman. Branch electrified the Los Angeles Coliseum and had USC fans singing his praises.

When a great football player plays on the offensive line, fans appreciate the consistency and quality, but the whole point of an offensive lineman is to make sure the skill players can make the dazzling plays. A freshman offensive lineman having a great debut will be noticed by the coaches on film, but it doesn’t jump off the page the way it does for other players on a team.

It will always be more of a story when a freshman kick returner and receiver has a splashy debut, because fans can see the excellence in a much more obvious — and dazzling — way. So it was for Zachariah Branch.

One of the many signs Branch’s performance resonated so deeply is the number of great college football players he was compared to in his first USC game. Just one game had Branch associated with great players from Pac-12 football history.

We have proof of these comparisons, so sit back and enjoy:

USC football report card for San Jose State

Football games are back. That means Sunday grades for #USC are back. Alex Grinch’s grade? It isn’t good, let’s put it that way.

Class is in session for USC. Coaches and players are in the midst of a crash course in teaching the game of football. The Trojans beat San Jose State on Saturday, 56-28, in a game which should have fans moderately concerned.

We say “moderately” because it’s too early to panic. First games will be rough and sloppy. We need to see if bad trends persist before getting really worried. However, after a full offseason, and given the increased depth USC established on defense in the transfer portal, even the most pessimistic Trojan fans had to be disapproving of this performance.

Fans grumbling about this USC defensive effort are not overreacting. Let’s put it that way. Coaches were clear in saying they had more talent, they had more depth, they had more bodies, they had more pieces. The coaches did not back away from saying they had something better on defense this season.

Need proof and documentation? Here’s one link.

Here’s another.

The message could not have been clearer this season: No excuses. Get it done on Saturday.

The USC defense did not “get it done” on its first Saturday of the season.

With that, we’ll lead you into our first USC report card of the 2023 campaign:

Twitter reaction to Zachariah Branch’s electric USC debut

In a city where people love a great show, Zachariah Branch was must-see entertainment. He captured the hearts of #USC fans.

Zachariah Branch knows how to make a strong first impression. The USC freshman wowed the Los Angeles Coliseum crowd in his first game as a Trojan. He made several eye-popping plays, but the crowning moment was a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown which had the whole stadium jumping.

We wrote:

“A medium-long punt return by Branch was exciting, but it was only the beginning. Branch then delivered a 25-yard catch-and-run touchdown on a short Caleb Williams pass. He then brought the house down with his main act, a 96-yard kickoff return which gave USC a 42-21 lead midway through the second half and gave the Trojans a cushion in their season opener.

“Caleb Williams is the man at USC, but Zachariah Branch — don’t call him Zach! — is going to be the man at USC in the future. He certainly was the breakout star of this season’s first game for the Trojans.”

See how social media reacted when Branch unleashed his considerable natural talents on the field for USC: