Vanderbilt boots WR Boyd

Vanderbilt has said that it has expelled its second starting wide receiver Chris Boyd in connection with allegations around the rape case at the school earlier this year.

Boyd was accused of helping to cover up the rape of an undisclosed woman at a university dorm in late June.

A warning: This excerpt from a USA Today post will make your stomach turn: “On Friday at a plea hearing for former wide receiver Chris Boyd, Deputy District Attorney General Tom Thurman read details in court that indicated Boyd and two others helped move an unconscious 21-year-old woman from a hallway back into a dorm room after she had been raped. He didn’t name the other individuals, but read a text out loud in which Boyd identified Vanderbilt’s starting quarterback, Austyn Carta-Samuels and tight end Dillon van der Wal, as helping to move her.”

Apparently, the text identifying Vanderbilt’s QB as one of the people helping to move the woman’s body was simply an identification rather than fact.

The DA said: “However, based upon the evidence collected to date, Boyd wrongly identified student Austyn Carta-Samuels as someone who participated in helping move the victim. ”

BOTTOM LINE: This is an horrific crime, and Boyd – if this is true – deserves to go to jail. On the footballing end, the loss of Boyd will continue to weaken Vanderbilt’s offense – especially with Georgia and Florida still to play. The good news for Vandy fans is that Austyn Carta-Samuels will continue to play.