Senior Linebacker Donovan Lynch has been a regular member of special teams since his plebe season in 2016 when he appeared in 7 games and played 52 snaps on the kick coverage, punt coverage and kick return teams along with a cameo appearance in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. He upped his snaps on special teams to 134 in 2017 and to 154 snaps in 2018 with cameo appearances in the Armed Forces Bowl both seasons.
He moved into a reserve role on defense at the start of the 2019 season and after playing 32 snaps in reserve against Tulane with 5 total tackles.
He got his first career start as the RUSH the following week against Georgia State receiving a rating of 76.6 from PFF. He played 32 snaps in reserve the following week against San Jose State and then started again at SAM against AF, where he played 62 snaps and recorded a career high 9 tackles. Lynch started at SAM in last week’s game against UMass and recorded a career high 1.5 Sacks. He has a respectable 66.2 rating from PFF for his performance on 181 defensive snaps this season.
GoBlackKnights.com caught up with the product of Noblesville (IN) directly after yesterday’s practice, as the senior would subsequently be joining fellow Firsties who would all assemble in Eisenhower Hall for Branch Night
In today’s arena of college football, it is not common place to see players stick around 4-years at most programs when they are not starting or seeing significant reps ... especially with today’s transfer portal in full mode.
However Lynch has and did. So we wanted to know what made the 6-foot-0, 228 pounder stick it out.
“Just the love for the ‘brotherhood’ man and there’s honestly nothing like it,” he explained. “It’s a real close knit group and the senior class has grinned through everything with each other ... through thick and thin. We have just carried each other and Coach [Jeff] Monken just pushes out knowing the importance of your role on the team. Every role is important, even if you are on scout team and I treat it like that.”
“And I understood that my role on the team was to be a special team’s player and to do the best I can and help put the team in the best position to win.”
But that role changed when Jeremiah Lowery went down several games ago and Lynch got the call. Although he surely felt for his teammate, this was a moment in his college football career that he had dreamed about since high school and that was being a starter for a college program.
“Like I said before, it’s a dream come true,” declared Lynch. “I’ve always dreamed about playing college football, contributing to the defense because I see how much love and compassion for each other every snap and every play and the focus that they have and the intensity. It was a dream come true to be able to step up when I was needed.”
And when it comes to Branch Night, this is what Lynch had to share.
“I don’t know exactly what I am branching, but I hope to branch infantry,” he stated prior to making his way over to Eisenhower Hall.
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