With the 2024 college football season looming, Big Ten teams are now highly focused on increasing their chances of winning, especially the new addition, the USC Trojans. Both Lincoln Riley and USC are facing the same circumstances as they have to face powerhouses like LSU, Michigan, and so on. In that scenario, USC needs to guard itself to defend against powerful and brutal running attacks. It’s because, in 2023, the Trojans ranked in the bottom 30 teams.

However, Zachariah Branch, the five-star USC wide receiver, had a major impact in his first season of 2023 and became the Trojans’ first true freshman First Team All-American as a returner, although there is a shortage of offensive output. That is why the Trojans HC is really hoping for a change into the stunning performer WR this season. Let’s see if there is a transformation happening with the Star WR.

Branch’s “Jaw-Dropping” transformation 

“We’ve really challenged him this year to become a bigger part and a more consistent part of our offense,” Riley said Wednesday at Big Ten Media Days, expressing the reason behind the transformation of Branch. On July 31, 2024, On3Sports posted Branch’s before and after pictures to show his weight loss with the caption “USC WR Zachariah Branch displayed his offseason transformation, getting down to 4.8% body fat.”

This post was actually taken from the star WB Branch’s X account; the first photo was from January and the second was from July. It seems like USC is gearing up for training camp in preparation for their debut in the Big Ten. However, the five-star wide receiver burst onto the college football scene a year ago in his very first game at USC.

He recorded 320 yards and two touchdowns. However, the team has higher expectations for the outstanding player this year. Riley mentioned, “We’ve pushed him to become a larger and more dependable contributor to our offense.”

Not only the offense but the defense was also taken care of properly by the talented HC. Let’s have a look at that.

Recruiting a four-star athlete as a defensive back for the Trojans

USC is seeking a major turnaround, and so is the HC too, because its entrance into the Big Ten opens up new opportunities. In that scenario, Lincoln hired a new defensive coordinator, D’Anton Lynn, the defensive coordinator at UCLA, who has vast experience with several NFL franchises. Praising the capability of the defensive back, Riley said, “I think the guys in the bowl game had just a different mentality around the football team.“ 

Along with that, Lincoln hired Matt Entz, LB coach, and assistant HC for defense, to strengthen the Trojans. Expressing the reason for hiring, he said, “Yeah, hiring Matt Entz among others on the defensive staff was certainly just as important as the defensive coordinator hire. Matt was a little of an outside-the-box hire.” This season, Trojan and his strong team are expected to perform exceptionally well.