Zachariah Branch is a true freshman phenom at USC - ESPN
ESPN THE SOUND IS unmistakable, but Zachariah Branch refuses to hear it. Before blockers become blurs in his peripheral vision, the true freshman enters a state of silence. Once the whistle blows and the opposing kicker launches the ball into the air, Branch is focused on too many other things to worry about the noise.
The opposing team's formation. The potential route he'll take. The blockers in front of him. Even the way the ball comes off the kicker's foot. He's learned that it's all too important to miss if he hopes his feet will touch the end zone by the end of it all.
The sound, however, is only growing louder.
It first begins before the play has even started. Through three games this season, the crowd inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum has already learned to not look away when it comes to punts and kickoffs. Instead, the noise slowly brews once the 19-year-old enters the field and jogs to his spot near the end zone for a kickoff or well behind the line of scrimmage for a punt.
Once the ball is in the air, the anticipation turns into its own unique sound, a collective holding of breath that gives way to a rising "Whooooooaaaa" when the ball is in Branch's hands and he makes his first move.
