Tom Hutton's Crucial to OSU's Success This Season

STILLWATER – There were quite a few complaints on social media this past Saturday when Mike Gundy sent Tom Hutton and the punt unit out on the field in a 4th and four situation from the Baylor 39-yard line.

A few seconds later, Hutton sent the ball sailing 37-yards down the field to a waiting Braylin Presley, who downed it at the two-yard line. The very next play, Brock Martin busted through the Baylor offensive line, which forced running back Richard Reese to the right and brought down by Kendal Daniels and Mason Cobb for a safety.

Had it not been for Hutton’s punt, or the maturity and wherewithal of the OSU’s punt unit, not only would that safety not have happened, but there would’ve also been multiple BU points scored following the punts.

"We were pretty good at it last year,” Mike Gundy said of coverage punts. “So, all those guys are back that are running down there and covering with the exception of little [Braylin] Presley; he's kind of new, but I mean he's built for that. And then Tom [Hutton] is a year older and more mature and has a better feel for it. So, we've just been fortunate that with his experience and the guys that we have covering, they've gotten good at it. And you know, it's interesting, and I'm not saying anybody said this, but it's not as easy as you'd think. People think it's easy to just run down there and do that, but one, you've got to get a release off a guy that's trying to stop you from doing it, Two, you've got to know where you are on the field before you start looking up, because you can't look up too early because you'll lose proximity where you are. Can't look up too late or you lose proximity to where you are. Then you have to locate the ball and make a decision, do I catch it or let it bounce. And a couple days ago that was about as good as it as I've seen. There's one time, I think it was [Jaden Nixon] that could have grabbed the ball on about the one [yard line]. I think it landed on about the 11 [yard] line or something, and he got out of the way and then little [Braylin] Presley backed up, you know, and then took it on about the one or two [yard line] and I think that's when we got the safety. Well, that's hard to do, and for [Jaden Nixon] to have that experience just starting it, because he didn't do it last year, and then [Braylin Presley] was playing at Bixby last year. So that was pretty good for those guys to have that maturity at that time."

Hutton finished the game with five punts for 209 yards, and average of 41.8 yards per punt, with a long of 47 yards. Not one of his punts on Saturday led to Baylor points. He’s also tied for fifth fewest punts in the FBS.

On the season, Hutton’s sitting at 20 punts for a total of 853 yards, nearly 43 yards a punt. While it’s still early in the season, his average is up considerably over his first two season in Stillwater, 38.7 yards as a freshman and 40.5 yards as a sophomore. He averaged 42.4 yards as a junior.

“It’s more so when I go out on a field, I’ve got an understanding of what needs to happen and what can happen if I don’t do it and what can happen if I do it. So, with the short yardage punts at the crucial time of the game that coach Gundy talks about all the time, the percentage of [the other team] going down and scoring. I think it was a one score game [against Baylor], the crucial time of the game and we had one of those punts. I knew it was a crucial punt and I had to get it down there as deep as I can and stop them from scoring. My first year it was sort of ‘do what I’m told and hope for the best.”

While punting is never a good thing, Oklahoma State fans can rest easy knowing they have one of the best punters in the country trotting out to pin an opposing team deep each time out.