CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Carter Boyd grew up going to Virginia football games at Scott Stadium. His father, Jeff, played offensive line for the Cavaliers in the early 1990s and the family has been season-ticket holders for years.
“It’s been a dream of mine to play on that field,” Boyd, who played his high school football at Western Albemarle, told Cville Right Now this week.
Saturday, that dream will come true, though Boyd won’t be wearing the blue and orange he used to come to Scott decked out in.
Boyd, a redshirt freshman, is the starting punter for William & Mary (1-1), which plays at UVA (1-1) this weekend.
It’s a game Boyd and his family have been looking forward to since he chose to play for the Tribe back in February 2024.
“Once he committed to William & Mary, you immediately see, ‘Virginia away,’ on the schedule,” his father told Cville Right Now. “This has kind of been on everyone’s mind since he committed. Now it’s here and it’s real.”
Boyd won’t just be at the game. This preseason, he won a competition to become the Tribe’s starting punter.
Boyd didn’t start playing football until his freshman year at Western Albemarle. Before that, he had been a soccer goalie and played baseball, basketball and swam.
William & Mary’s track program wanted him as a pole vaulter before Mike London and the Tribe decided to recruit him for football.
Boyd spent last season redshirting behind Ruben Anderson. Anderson, a Bucknell transfer, averaged 44.2 yards per punt, the second-best single-season mark in program history. But Anderson had a less obvious impact within the team, as well.
He worked with the other kickers, especially Boyd, helping them develop their skills and their approach to the game. Anderson pushed Boyd to perfect his drops and encouraged him to keep a post-practice journal, to really focus on the areas he was working to improve.
“He was almost like a coach,” Boyd said. “Having Ruben’s four or five years of experience was one of the most crucial things for helping my development. He gave me some really good points. I still do a lot of what he tells to do.”
Anderson even left behind a notebook, “a manual,” Boyd said, for W&M’s kickers to study.
“I credit him a lot with my comfort these first two games,” Boyd said.
Boyd’s coach at William & Mary, former Virginia coach Mike London, said Boyd deserves plenty of credit, as well.
“He’s soaked up everything he possibly could,” London said. “He’s still not shaving. Has no hair on his face right now. That’s how young he is. But that’s OK, because he’s embracing the fact that he wants to learn and he wants to be really good.”
On his first college punt, Boyd boomed a 53-yarder against Furman, that pinned the Paladins at their own 17-yard line.
“I thought for my first game I’d be much more nervous than I was,” Boyd said. “I was more nervous for the couple of days leading up. The second I walked out on the field, I felt perfectly calm. I just did what I normally do in practice. I just kind of went on autopilot.”
That’s the approach Boyd has taken through the Tribe’s first two games. He’s punted eight times and is averaging an Anderson-esque 44.4 yards per kick, the second best mark in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Saturday, despite the excitement of playing in the stadium Boyd grew up attending games in, and the fact that Boyd will have a large contingent of family and friends in the stands, London wants his young punter to take a similarly focused stance.
“He’s already highly motivated. Just want him to do his job,” London said. “Do what he’s capable of doing. He’s a really good, young, talented player. He’s demonstrated that. Celebrate going back to where you’re from and people you know will be watching you, but all that matters is what happens between the white lines. He’s embraced that.”
