Lincoln Riley recalls team’s reaction to Denis Lynch receiving scholarship

USC head coach Lincoln Riley has awarded former walk-on kicker and current starter Denis Lynch with a scholarship. RIley said when the team found out, they were ecstatic for the redshirt sophomore.

“They erupted,” Riley said. “They’ve seen the way that that guy’s worked throughout the entire time that he’s been here. He’s never been promised anything. We’ve given an opportunity and he’s continued to work hard. I think he has the respect of the entire team. When I told the team, they erupted. They had Denis come up and give a speech, which in a typical Denis fashion, was all over the place.”

Lynch went to Newbury Park (Calif.) High prior to walking on at USC. He did not play during his first year on campus but earned the starting role in 2022. The lefty nailed 74 of his 74 extra-point attempts and 15 of his 22 field goal attempts.

This year, he has hit 28 PATs and is a perfect 3-for-3 on his field goals.

As for what he said during his speech, Riley wasn’t able to provide details.

“I’m not trying to hide anything,” Riley said. “I don’t know that I can accurately explain. It was really bizarre, and then at the end it was like, well and thank you and walked off. That’s just Denis for you. Denis is kind of quirky, but the guys love him and the guys have a lot of respect. it was a cool moment.”

The Trojans will play at Colorado this weekend for a big-time matchup. Even though the Buffaloes lost to Oregon, there is still a lot of eye balls expected to be on this Pac-12 matchup.

But Riley said the team is not going to focus on the team across from them on the field. It is about focusing on themselves and making sure they do what they can prepare.

“We just try to continue to be ourselves and keep our sound approach,” Riley said. “We haven’t been focused on opponents or any of the outside things. To each their own. We’ve got to stay focused. We’ve gotten plenty of things that we’ve got to get better at and be ready to handle. If any of our focus is going anywhere else, that’s not the best thing for USC.”