Branch Developing Roots at USD : College football: After a troubled beginning, the running back has found a place to call home.

Bewildered and unhappy in a new environment, freshman running back Willie Branch was on the verge of quitting the University of San Diego football team two weeks before his first season began.

To the delight of the fans, coaches and teammates, Branch now can say he is there for the long run.

“I think, matter of fact, I know I will remain here,” said Branch, who grew up in Southeast San Diego and attended Sweetwater High. “I’m starting to like this place.”

The feeling is mutual.

Entering tonight’s game--against Azusa Pacific, 7:30 at Torero Stadium--Branch is leading USD (6-2) in:

- Touchdowns with 11. The school record is 16, set by Rich Paulson in 1973.

- Rushing with 784 yards. The school record is 1,177, set by Sammy Croon in 1972.

- Yards per carry at 11.5. The school record is 6.3, set by Paulson in ’73.

Yet Branch, only 5 feet 8 and 170 pounds, has only 68 carries, 70 fewer than fullback Scott Sporrer, who has rushed for 706 yards, gaining 5.1 per attempt.

“I’ve never seen a guy run like him,” said Coach Brian Fogarty, who is in his ninth year at USD. “He’s not very big, but he’s got great speed, and his balance is unbelievable.”

Said senior Charlie Taumoepeau, a fullback-turned-nose tackle: “We haven’t had that kind of speed or that kind of running back in all the time I’ve been here. We’ve had some good athletes, but Willie’s something else. He is just a joy to watch.

“Normally, defensive players don’t pay much attention to the offense. We have our own concerns. But lately, everyone wants to get up and take a look to see what he’s doing. Nobody wants to miss one of his great runs.”

There have been plenty. Branch has 419 yards--53% of his total--on touchdown carries of 73, 70, 59, 58, 47, 43, 37, 21, eight and three yards. He also has seven receptions, second on the team, for 101 yards and another touchdown.

If they handed out a most valuable player trophy at USD--which they do not--the winner might have to be Branch.

Daniel Branch that is, Willie’s younger brother, also a freshman, a starting cornerback and USD’s leading punt returner.

More than anyone else, it was Daniel who persuaded Willie to give USD a try in the first place, and it was Daniel who persuaded Willie to stay after Willie already had told the coaches he was quitting in August.

“Danny inspired me to come here,” Willie said. “I wasn’t going to come here. I didn’t want to come here. I was determined to go to Southwestern. But he was like, making me get my papers in, making sure my enrollment forms were filled out.

“Danny really talked to me, and my mom and family and the (USD) coaches, but it was really Danny who talked me into it. They didn’t care too much about the football part of the deal, but more about the opportunity to get an education here. That’s what they were trying to convince me not to throw away.

“Where we came from, people don’t always get that opportunity. Where we came from, there are gangs and drugs and shootings.”

Reluctantly, Willie gave in to his brother’s reasoning, but it took further persuasion for him to stay once they had moved into a campus dormitory for the start of fall practice.

“It wasn’t what I was used to at all,” Willie said. “And, I don’t know, I just didn’t like it for some reason. I wanted out. I was going to quit.

“I wasn’t happy. I stayed in the room all the time. I didn’t go outside. I didn’t look around or nothing. I just stayed in the room like a bug.

“Danny tried to explain to me I needed to get out more, start talking to some people. I think I was stubborn in my own way, trying to hold back from making that adjustment when I should have opened up more.

“I’m not all the way, but I’m slowly making that adjustment more and more each day.”

Daniel, who is a bit smaller than Willie but was voted Big Man on Campus last year at Sweetwater, said he was skeptical about coming to USD as well.

“I wondered how people would accept me,” Daniel said. “Being from Southeast (San Diego), I wondered how people would treat us and whether or not we’d adjust to being at a rich school. But it turned out pretty good. I get a lot of help from a lot of the people on the team and the coaches and staff, especially with the studies. They make it a lot easier.”

Most USD students have no idea what growing up in Southeast San Diego is like, Daniel said. They have no concept of the cultural, ethnic and economic differences he and Willie have encountered since stepping foot on Alcala Park.

“It was tough,” Daniel said. “Things are so much different around here. In Southeast, everything’s a struggle. Really, it’s a struggle for life. It’s a struggle for family unity. But all in all, I think we came out of it pretty good. I think our family is pretty close, and we all stick together and try to make the best of what we have.

“There were some struggles in life, and some obstacles other people here didn’t have to overcome. Things were tough, but my mom always stuck by us. She was always there for us. There were times in high school, you know, ‘Dang, I don’t want to go to school today.’ There were some nights we didn’t have anything to eat. You would just be so hungry, you didn’t want to go to school. You didn’t have the energy.

“But seeing my mom work so hard and so much just to take care of us, you had to go to school so we could take care of her, hopefully, in the future. That’s what we’re trying to do here. More than anything else, we want to get our degrees so we can make things a little easier for her and for ourselves.”