Pete Thamel sets 'expectation' Zachariah Branch won't play vs. Notre Dame

As USC gears up for a big rivalry matchup at Notre Dame on Saturday, the question for the Trojans’ offense is the status of freshman standout Zachariah Branch. He burst onto the scene in the early part of the season, but hasn’t played since Sept. 23 due to injury.

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, it doesn’t sound likely Branch will be back this week.

On College Football Live on Friday, Thamel said the “expectation” is Branch is again out as USC takes on Notre Dame in South Bend. He’s working his way back from a “lower body injury,” but the fact that he hasn’t practiced in full this week doesn’t bode well for his status against the Fighting Irish.

“I think we need to pay attention to Zachariah Branch,” Thamel said. “He’s one of the most exciting and explosive players in college football, and he has not played the last two weeks. The expectation is he also does not play Saturday. He has not been a full participant in practice this week. USC has not come out definitively and said his status, but all signs are pointing to him still needing some time to come back from his lower body injury. So that hurts them as a receiving core, but also on special teams, where he’s got some magic in those boots.”

Branch made multiple explosive plays to start his college career. In his first game, he took a kickoff return back for a 96-yard touchdown while adding 58 receiving yards and a touchdown on offense. On the whole, Branch has 178 yards and two receiving touchdowns while taking six kickoff returns back for 171 yards and the Week 0 touchdown.

Lincoln Riley didn’t rule Branch out for the game when he met with reporters earlier this week, but confirmed he hasn’t participated in full during practice. He said it was somewhat of a wait-and-see approach.

“He’s dealing with an injury and progressing,” Riley said. “Still hasn’t been a full participant yet. I do think he’s making progress. We’ll kind of watch and see. He’s going to need to continue to make some jumps here to be ready for us. So hopefully he can continue to progress over the next few days.”

Branch was a key part of USC’s recruiting class this year. He was a Five Star Plus+ recruit, meaning he was one of the only players ranked by all four major recruiting media companies as a five-star. A product of Bishop Gorman (NV) High School, Branch was the No. 4-ranked prospect in the country from the 2023 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.