Zachariah Branch is born as a star in his Coliseum debut, igniting USC to splashy win

Allen Wallace/various media  —  LOS ANGELES — For about 30 minutes of football, the 2023 version of USC looked a lot like the 2022 version.

In its season opener against San Jose State on Saturday night, the No. 6-ranked Trojans scored plenty of points but the supposed new-look defense was once again shaky, showing flashes of the team’s added talent, but struggling to contain a mobile quarterback.

But then…move over, Caleb Williams.

Zachariah Branch arrived for his big splash, which looks like it could turn into a full-on tsunami. Branch can lay claim to one of the most electric debuts in USC football history, and a role that has USC fans undoubtedly expecting crazy highlights each week.

The 5-10, 175-pounder jolted No. 6 USC out of its offseason slumber with 232 all-purpose yds and two touchdowns in a season-opening 56-28 victory over San José State at the Coliseum on Saturday.

After San José’s Nick Nash caught a 32-yard touchdown pass to cut USC’s lead to 35-21 with 1:50 remaining in the third quarter, casting a semi-nervous pall over the announced crowd of 63,411, Branch received the kickoff near the four-yard line, patiently tip-toed forward slowly before suddenly hitting overdrive straight up the middle. He hopped over a tackler and the crowd rumbled with excitement. He zig-zagged to the sideline at midfield and spectacularly cut back among several defenders a final time on an otherworldly 96-yd TD bonanza as the fans roared with both cheers  — and relief.

Reigning Heisman Trophy winner Williams completed 18 of 25 passes for 278 yds and four touchdowns. While he provided the type of highlight fans have grown accustomed to when he misplayed a snap, recovered it, and quickly slung a massive 76-yard touchdown “hero play strike” to Tahj Washington (16) in the second quarter, he ceded the main spotlight to Branch, who tied for the team lead with four receptions for 58 yds including a sparkling 25-yard touchdown, also in the third quarter. Overall, Branch had 12 yds rushing, 96 on the kick return and 66 on punt returns.

It was scintillating – and nearly enough to distract from an ugly defensive start. In the first half Saturday, outside of some legitimately solid stretches of play – strong pressure from Oklahoma State transfer linebacker and now-captain Mason Cobb and some eye-popping bursts off the line from Georgia State transfer Jamil Muhammad – the line looked limp and the secondary seemed splintered against a quick-hitting San Jose State attack.

An all-too-familiar easy 28-yard run on a third-and-22 from Chevan Cordeiro led to a second-quarter touchdown, and a complete breakdown led to that wide-open TD grab from Nash with only eight seconds left in the half. Nash caught three TD passes from Cordeiro, who passed for 198 yds and rushed for 52 more.

USC’s offense shone as a whole with steady Stanford transfer Austin Jones (6) running tough for a pair of scores and four different Trojans receivers (Singer, Washington, Branch, Brenden Rice) hauling in a touchdown.

But scoring TDs was never the question for the Trojans this year. And the bad taste from last year’s defensive collapse still lingers.

“No matter what the score was, if this was a three-point game, if it was a 28-point game, if it was a 50-point game, there’s gonna be that climb to the next step,” head coach Lincoln Riley said postgame. “And that’s where our focus is gonna stay. A lot of work to do, and we’re the right people to get it done.”

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