Lincoln Riley and the USC defense had a budding star in the secondary with redshirt freshman Zion Branch. Unfortunately, the head coach confirmed Tuesday evening that Branch will miss the remainder of the season.

Riley announced Branch underwent a procedure Tuesday morning that ended his season prematurely. While the loss is “terrible,” Riley does believe Branch has the attitude to bounce back stronger from the blow.

“He’s going to be out for the season, had a procedure done this morning,” Riley announced. “Hate it for him, it was his first start. Just a terrible loss. That kid is so headstrong and so positive and so driven. He’ll come back way stronger from it.”

Riley also took time to praise Branch’s quick development on the field. A 4-star member of the 2022 recruiting class, Branch saw his first season in the program derailed by a season-ending injury in last year’s training camp.

“Obviously to come in here and earn the free safety job at SC as a freshman is a pretty big deal,” said Riley. “We were — pleased is probably not the right word with his progress. That’s way better than that.

“It will sting for this team to lose him. I’ll have to uplift him, but he’s a strong cat and he’s going to be a great player here.”

While Riley confirmed it was another issue related to Branch’s knee, he declined to get into the specifics of the injury. Branch had worked his way into the starting role with the defense and had 22 tackles (15 solo) with a TFL and a forced fumble in 9 games this season.