Oklahoma RB Gavin Sawchuk Using Cheez-It Bowl to Springboard Into 2023

NORMAN — Gavin Sawchuk was worth the wait.

Though he technically redshirted last year, the speedy running back closed 2022 with a bang.

After getting three offensive snaps during the regular season, Sawchuk split time in the backfield with Jovantae Barnes in the Cheez-It Bowl against Florida State.

A total unknown entering the contest, Sawchuk only ran for 100 yards and a touchdown on 15 carriers, as he looked a threat to hit a home run every time he was handed the football.

The Name's Sawchuk. Gavin Sawchuk. Remember it.#OUDNA | @G27football pic.twitter.com/puP75YchgZ
— 𝕺𝖐𝖑𝖆𝖍𝖔𝖒𝖆 𝖛𝖘. 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖑𝖉 (@soonergridiron) December 30, 2022

Sawchuk joined the Sooners last summer, meaning he was a tad behind his freshman cohort Barnes, who enrolled with OU for spring football.

Sawchuk was unable to get up to speed in time to help the team during the regular season, but Eric Gray’s decision to opt out of the game opened the door for Sawchuk to shine.

And he took full advantage, rewarding the faith of both his running backs coach, DeMarco Murray, and offensive coordinator, Jeff Lebby.

“You always hope for the best,” Lebby said last Tuesday, “and you think the best, but until they get out there and it’s live bullets and against a really good defense that we saw in that game.

“For him to play the way he did I think speaks to him and who he is and how he works, dependability, accountability and what his future’s gonna look like.”

With just a game’s worth of experience under his belt, Sawchuk is finally settling in as he takes part in his first spring with the Sooners.

For much of last year, Sawchuk said he was just trying to get acclimated to life at practice every day. He said his head was swimming.

Now, he’s feeling more confident in his abilities and knows how to attack the next year.

“At the beginning, it was just just all over the place,” Sawchuk said after practice on Thursday. “Just coming in as a freshman, you don’t know what to expect. Coach starts yelling and everything is going fast and you’re just kind of wide-eyed and ready to go.

“But it started to slow down eventually as you go through the year and started to understand what Coach DeMarco was expecting, what other coaches were expecting, what it’s like to be a D1 athlete playing at the college football level. Then it really started to slow down.”

Ahead of the 2023 season, Sawchuk said he’s spent a good chunk of time preparing himself mentally to play faster on Saturday’s.

“You always want to be better at everything,” he said. “But specifically, just slowing the game down, being able to play faster, play with more of a sense of urgency, knowing what’s going on before the play even starts. Just being able to play faster and have that ready.”

Just as they did in the bowl game, the Sooners will have to replace Gray’s production.

Last year Gray ran the ball 213 times, finishing with 1,354 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground.

Not only did Gray blow past his previous career high of 772 rushing yards in 2020 at Tennessee, but he finished with the ninth-best rushing season in school history for Oklahoma.

But head coach Brent Venables is confident the young running back room, headlined by Barnes and Sawchuk as well as veteran piece Marcus Major, will be up to the challenge.

“Eric was fantastic but remember that was his first year starting,” Venables said at a press conference last Monday. “Everybody wondered going into last year, too, how are we going to replace Kennedy Brooks? Eric really stepped up and was a great leader.

“… I love our running backs. I love with where we’re at… It’s a really good strong group of guys that are really looking forward to getting the chance to be the guy.”

Gavin Sawchuk can tote the rock, y'all. ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/Cn171PEBRt
— 𝕺𝖐𝖑𝖆𝖍𝖔𝖒𝖆 𝖛𝖘. 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖑𝖉 (@soonergridiron) December 30, 2022

Gray not only led the room in production on the field, but he excelled as a leader off it.

Sawchuk said he was sure to watch everything Gray did a season ago, absorbing how to go about his business every day to continue and improve.

“He was very helpful,” Sawchuk said. “I mean, what didn’t I learn from him? I watched him so much and a lot of it was just him leading from example.

“I’d be on the sidelines, in the film room, and just seeing how he makes this cut, seeing how he makes this read, all sorts of things like that.”

Now that the speed of the game has slowed down for Sawchuk, he’s looking forward to leaning on Barnes all throughout spring so the duo can use the competition as a springboard into 2023.

“Like you always say, iron sharpens iron,” he said. “Same thing with me and Jovantae, or anybody in the room. We’re all trying to compete, we’re all trying to get better. It’s that we’re pushing each other, pushing each other.

“One person has to rise to the level of the other person. It’s just that level of competition to get everybody better.”

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