In an offense led by star quarterback John Mateer and star wide reciever Kyle Williams, it is easy for the rest of the team’s weapons to get lost in the fold.

That should not deter Coug fans from celebrating senior wideout Kris Hutson, who is having an underrated season on his own. Hutson is not as much of a big play threat as Williams, but he leads the team in receptions with 37 and has been remarkably consistent through the first seven games of the season.

Hutson has caught at least four passes in all but one game, he has gone over 35+ receiving yards in all but one game, and he has averaged over ten yards per play in all but two games. He has only gone over 100 yards twice, against Portland State in week one and Boise State in week five. He is now over 500 yards on the season, with 506 after a seven-catch, 90-yard performance against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors.

Hutson’s consistency also paid off in the form of a touchdown against Hawaii, his second time this year finding the endzone and his first since week one. As a veteran, he has been a steady and solid target for Mateer.

Hutson transferred to Wazzu from Oregon, where he looked like he was on his way to becoming the next great Ducks receiver before an injury kept him off the field in 2023. In the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Hutson caught 75 passes for 891 yards and two touchdowns, but he only caught one pass in 2023 for eight yards.

He has already set a new career best for receiving yards in a season and is on pace to also set new personal bests in receptions and touchdowns.

Hutson has also run the ball with success this season. In his first carry against Washington, he went for 22 yards and in his third carry against Fresno State, he took it in for a two-yard TD rush, the first rushing TD of his career. He has proved versatile, being used for jet sweeps and a rare jet sweep touch-pass against Hawaii. He often will go in motion, allowing WSU to create mismatches with the defense.