Corey Lynch's game-clinching field-goal block at Michigan is one of the many big plays the Buck Buchanan Award candidate has made throughout his collegiate career (photo courtesy of Mark Campbell)

Beating the Odds: Lynch has Come Out of Nowhere to be a Star for ASU
by Tommy Bowman (Winston-Salem Journal)

November 23, 2007 - One image will be forever etched in Appalachian State football history.

It's of Corey Lynch catching Michigan's last-second field-goal attempt in his chest and heading downfield to seal one of college football's greatest upsets.

Another won't soon be forgotten: Corey Lynch hauling in one of his 22 career interceptions, then pointing skyward to give thanks for the opportunity.

Lynch says that he's been blessed to be part of it all.

"From the time I first started playing football, I remember hearing if the ball is in the air Corey is the one that needs to go get it," said Lynch, a fifth-year senior who will be remembered for an uncanny knack to read and react and to be at the right place at the right time.

"I don't know how it works," said Lynch, a 6-0, 205-pound safety who was named the Southern Conference's defensive player of the year this week. "I just have a God-given ability. I don't exactly know how it works or how I do it."

How he wound up at Appalachian State is almost as much of a puzzle.

He played in relative obscurity, by Florida-football standards, coming from a small private school that Coach Jerry Moore of Appalachian jokingly said was located "on an island out in the ocean near the coast of West Florida."

Lynch had 31 interceptions at Evangelical Christian in Cape Coral. No one at Appalachian knew about Lynch, and Lynch knew only of Appalachian from a grade-school teacher that graduated from there.

Lynch had thoughts of attending Princeton, figured it was too much of a long shot to try to walk on at Florida and was recruited only by Army but wasn't really interested in going there.

Dale Jones and Chris Moore, Appalachian coaches, were in Florida recruiting and happened to spot him in a county all-star game.

"We weren't there looking at anyone specifically," Chris Moore said. "I remember there was this big 6-6 receiver going to Minnesota or Wisconsin or somewhere and he ran a deep post and this kid (Lynch) kind of just spun and did a speed turn on him and knocked the ball down.

"Dale and I just looked at each other like, 'Man, that guy can play right there.' He kept making plays covering guys that were going to SEC and Big Ten schools. He was all over the field.

"We talked to him later and he was from a little private school, a single-A program that really didn't play anybody. We just kind of got lucky on him."

Lynch said: "That was the last high school game I played. It was a blessing to me for them to be there at that point."

Lynch, strong in his Christian faith, accepted an offer from Appalachian and entered a public-school environment for the first time.

"There are a lot of guys that love Jesus on this team, so that turned out to be pretty cool," Lynch said. "But it's also nice that everybody seems to respect each other no matter what their views are. I didn't know what to expect when I first got here. But it's been rewarding."

Football rewards have worked both ways for Lynch and his team.

The Mountaineers, who have won two straight Football Championship Subdivision national titles, have won 41 games with Lynch in the lineup. They are 19-0 in games in which Lynch has an interception.

Lynch will likely become the first three-time All-America at Appalachian since Dexter Coakley. He is three interceptions away from the school record held by Larry Harbin, and he has 330 career tackles, six fumble recoveries and has blocked five kicks, all in the last 18 games.

But, Lynch said, it's been time off the field that has been just as rewarding.

After leading the Southern Conference with six interceptions as a freshman, Lynch sustained a season-ending elbow injury while returning a punt the second game of the next season. If he had played one more game that year, he would not have been able to receive redshirt status and gain an extra year of eligibility. The added year, he said, has been important to his physical development and preparing him for a chance at the next level.

He also met his fiancée, Cissie Graham, the daughter of Franklin Graham, the weekend after the elbow injury. They plan to marry on Dec. 31.

Lynch missed the final regular-season game and first playoff game last year after breaking an arm, but managed to make it back in time to help the Mountaineers win a second straight national title.

Asked about a career highlight, Lynch said: "The Michigan game was pretty cool but, you know, when I broke my arm that was quite an experience. It was a good lesson about finding out what God has planned for your life and about not giving up."

Lynch, who will graduate with a degree in physics, is nearing his final college game. He hopes that it won't be Saturday, when the Mountaineers play James Madison in the first round of the playoffs.

"To make it this far there is no point to being satisfied right now with what you've done," Lynch said.

Lynch hopes that his football career won't be over. He sees what another safety named Lynch, all-pro John Lynch, has done in the NFL. In fact, both wear the same No. 47 although that wasn't by design.

"When I got here, they already had that number for me," Lynch said. "I don't know if they had it in mind when they gave me that number, but I didn't have it in mind. But it's worked out for me. I'm asked about a million times a year if that's why I wear that number. I just say that he's my uncle. I'd love to meet him someday. That would be neat."

Lynch has agents calling, and will likely get a chance in an NFL preseason camp.

"We'll see what happens after the season," Lynch said. "Scouts have said some positive things, and they've said some negative things. I don't like to think about it yet. I have obligations to this team. I'll leave that for when the season is over."

The negatives he has heard?

"Some people don't think I'm fast enough," Lynch said. "But fast on the football field is different than fast on the track. Track guys have to react to one thing, the starting gun. On the football field, read and reaction is what it's all about...."

If an NFL career doesn't work out, Lynch said that he might pursue a graduate degree or travel overseas and do mission work.

"I'm just trusting God for that," Lynch said. "If God opens those doors, I'll walk through. If they're closed, I'll go a different route. My approach to the future is that you can't beat hard work and prayer."

• Tommy Bowman can be reached at 727-7320 or at tbowman@wsjournal.com.