Tom Hutton Announces End of Career Following Injury at Kansas State

STILLWATER – It’s the end of an era in Stillwater as Tom Hutton announced the end of his playing career at Oklahoma State following a knee injury at Kansas State.

The play in which Hutton was injured came with just over nine minutes left in the fourth quarter against the Wildcats. It was a 49-yard punt by Hutton, which was returned 39-yards by Phillip Brooks. Hutton went to make a tackle but was hit and knocked out of bounds on the K-State sidelines.

Hutton will stay in Stillwater through the spring and graduate, before moving back to Australia with his wife, Kelsey.

The 32-year-old senior out of Newborough, Victoria, Australia, was having a great season this year. In eight games so far, Hutton was averaging 43.8 yards per punt on 44 punts, more than a full yard longer than his season average in 2021. His season average was good for 28th in the FBS.

He also cleared his mark of 50+ yard punts in 2021 by one, finishing this season with seven.

Hutton came to Oklahoma State in 2019 from ProKick Australia. He’d come a long way from his freshman season as he averaged 38.7 yards per punt, with each season getting better. He averaged 40.5 yards a punt in 2020, followed by 42.4 yards per punt in 2021.

Punting duties now fall to Logan Ward, a redshirt freshman out of Edmond (OK) Deer Creek. Ward recorded two punts against Arkansas-Pine Bluff earlier in the season, averaging 57.7 yards per punt, with a long of 63 yards.

Ward’s been the Cowboys’ full-time kickoff specialist since the Baylor game.