Zachariah Branch has potential to be a 'matchup nightmare' this season with his athleticism, explosiveness

USC fans got their first glimpse at five-star freshman Zachariah Branch on Saturday night and he lived up to the hype. Not only did Branch show off his speed and elusiveness in returning a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, but he also ended the contest with four catches for 58 yards and a receiving touchdown.

That put him in a special category as the first player to score on the receiving end and in the return game since Adoree’ Jackson did so in 2016. Branch drew some comparisons between the two after the game, but Pac-12 Network analyst Yogi Roth likened the freshman to former Heisman running back Reggie Bush on the broadcast.

“Ted calls the actual return for a touchdown, I call the replay. I’m right up to the cusp of saying Reggie and I hit the ‘talk back’ button, which is a button where you can talk to your producer and I tell my producer ‘I don’t know if I can go there. I don’t wanna put it on the kid,'” Roth told On3‘s Andy Staples. “He goes, ‘Well, if you believe it.’ Then on the second replay I said, ‘And he reminds you of No. 5.’ I believe that in the way that he moves. A lot of people were comping him to Adoree’ Jackson. Adoree’ was much smoother. He was a glider type of athlete. Zachariah Branch put his foot in the ground like Reggie.”

It’s unclear exactly how much Branch will factor in once USC gets into the tougher part of its schedule, but he certainly made his case with that performance. Still using Bush as a comparison, Roth speculated on what role Branch might play going forward.

Bush had a healthy role in the offense during his freshman season, finishing with 521 yards rushing and three touchdowns along with 15 catches for 314 yards and four TDs. Like Branch, he also returned a kickoff for a touchdown. Roth sees USC similarly using Zachariah Branch in multiple ways, calling him a “matchup nightmare” for opponents.

“When you go back to I guess it’d be 2003, (Bush’s) freshman year, and you talk about what coach Pete Carrol did for him, they gave him five plays on offense and let him run special teams,” Roth said. “They let him run wheel routes, rub routes, angle routes and then outside zone and then of course special teams and a slant-and-go and that was it.

“For Zachariah Branch, we saw him play like he did in high school, which is fast. I love how they’re not muddling him up with too much. By the end of the season, maybe he does move all over the place and is even more of a matchup nightmare. But you’re right, the sheer athleticism and his explosiveness is special and it reminds you of somebody that used to rock the cardinal and gold, whether it’s Adoree’ or Reggie.”

Branch also had one carry for 12 yards and turned a trio of punt returns into 66 yards for an average of 22 yards per return. He’ll hope to build upon that performance moving forward into Week 1 against Nevada, and it looks like the Trojans have a star on their hands.