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Zachariah Branch explains why he pulled out a Cristiano Ronaldo celebration after touchdown

Grant Grubbsby:Grant Grubbs•08/27/23•

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Gary A. Vasquez | USA TODAY Sports

Zachariah Branch may have forgot which sport he was playing on Saturday night. After hauling in a screen pass, Branch zoomed past San Jose State‘s defense for a 25-yard touchdown. The freshman wide receiver celebrated in an unexpected manner.

Branch sprinted forward, leaped into the air while turning around, and threw his arms to his sides. Sound familiar? It should. Branch was doing his best impression of soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal celebrations.

After USC‘s 56-28 victory over San Jose State, Branch discussed his eye-catching celebration.

“I got into the game ‘FIFA’ and I had scored a goal one time, and I just did the celebration and I was like, ‘That was pretty cool,'” Branch said. “I’ve been playing that for like two months and I was waiting for the opportunity to come. And I was like when I [do the celebration], I’m raging to the crowd. So, I did it.”

Branch had no shortage of opportunities to celebrate on Saturday evening. The Nevada native recorded four receptions for 58 yards, the second-most on the team. Nonetheless, Branch wasn’t only a threat out wide.

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Branch was dominant as USC’s return man. He returned three punts for a combined 66 yards. Moreover, the lightning-fast freshman left Spartan defenders dumbfounded as he took a 96-yard kick return to the house.

Add on a 12-yard carry, and Branch boasted 232 all-purpose yards in his collegiate debut. The hype was real. Branch was a five-star prospect in high school, per On3 Industry Ratings. Further, he was the No. 1 WR in the Class of 2023.

A happy head coach

After the win, USC head coach Lincoln Riley discussed the decision to play the talented freshman.

“I haven’t done it much, but once guys play, that’s part of it,” Riley said. “It’s not freshmen, it’s not seniors in there, it’s just USC football players. I felt like he earned it, made an impact on offense, made an impact on special teams. I thought he did a good job not trying to do too much which guys in their first game sometimes will do. I thought his patience, especially on the return, you saw a lot of patience there which was key.”

Branch wasn’t simply happy to be given the chance.

“It was always a dream for me to be at a prestigious university and be around an elite staff and elite players,” Branch said. “So all day you know, they were juicing us up from morning all the way up until the game, and I was just really excited.”