Second-year wide receiver Chris Lawson boasted a career-high 103 receiving yards on 6 receptions in a 38-26 victory for the Washington Huskies over Purdue at Ross-Ade Stadium on Friday night.
The 6-foot, 185-pound sophomore led UW's receivers in both categories against the Boilermakers in the first 100-yard receiving game of his brief college career. Over the last two weeks against USC and Iowa, Lawson has been building up to triple-digit receiving yards for Jedd Fisch's offense with 82 and 86 receiving yards in the two respective Big Ten games for UW, with a touchdown against the Hawkeyes.
Five of his six receptions Friday night went for 10-plus receiving yards, with two for more than 20 yards, a show of his big-play capabilities as a primary option for starting quarterback Elijah Brown, who made his first career start for the Huskies with fellow third-year starter Demond Williams Jr. out due to a rib injury suffered the previous week against Iowa.
Lawson's previous single-game high receptions came in the Huskies' 41-24 loss to the Hawkeyes last Friday, an 8-catch, 86-yard outing that fell one yard shy of tying his career-high in receiving yards set back on Sept. 5 against Washington State in the season opener.
First career 100-yard game for Chris Lawson after that 24 yard reception, his team-high sixth catch of the night against Purdue to get the Huskies' drive going late in the third quarter
— Lars Hanson (@LarsHanson) October 17, 2026
Lawson at 6 catches for 103 on seven targets
"Chris Lawson and (Dezmen) Roebuck are two second-year players that combined for 200 receiving yards," Fisch noted after the 12-point road win in West Lafayette, Indiana.
"We are trying to build this thing our way, and that's going to take time in terms of getting better. But they're also the most resilient of the youngest people we have because they haven't dealt with some of the other adversity that the other guys have gotten. I think that's why the young guys that we have can just keep on playing."
As a freshman in 2025 for UW, the former four-star Archbishop Riordan High School product played in eight games, the third-most appearances by a first-year wide receiver behind Raiden Vines-Bright, who transferred to Arizona State in the offseason after making 12 of 13 appearances for the Huskies last fall with seven starts, and Roebuck.
Lawson finished his first season with the program with 10 receptions for 115 receiving yards in his eight games for Fisch and Co., shaping up to make a significant step in 2026 that thus far has come to fruition despite a 4-3 record through the first seven games.
The San Francisco, California, native is second on the team behind Roebuck with 32 receptions for 483 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns, the first in Week 3 against Eastern Washington and the second last Friday in the Huskies' second conference defeat this season at the hands of coach Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeyes.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Chris Lawson's Breakout Continues With 1st 100-yard game at Purdue