Oklahoma’s Gavin Sawchuk, Running Backs Adjusting Well to New-Look Offense

Gavin Sawchuk has much to prove in 2025.

Sawchuk was a breakout star at running back for Oklahoma in 2023, his redshirt freshman season, rushing for 744 yards and nine touchdowns. 

Injuries and all-around offensive inconsistency halted Sawchuk’s progress in 2024, as the tailback finished with just 128 yards in nine games.

Even with much to prove, Sawchuk’s focus isn’t individual success. He just wants to be a piece in the puzzle for an offense that will look much different.

“The offense as a team, as a whole, it’s all about competing, all about getting better,” Sawchuk said after a practice earlier in April. “That’s what I really sense this year. It’s been good.”

With a new offensive coordinator, new starting quarterback, and several new offensive linemen and wideouts, OU’s offense will be completely retooled in 2025.

The Sooners made a splash in December, hiring Ben Arbuckle from Washington State as their new offensive coordinator. With him, OU landed transfer quarterback John Mateer — who logged 3,139 passing yards and 29 passing touchdowns in 2024 — from the Cougars.

Arbuckle is known as a pass-first coordinator. In one season as Western Kentucky’s offensive coordinator (in 2022), Arbuckle commanded the nation’s No. 1 passing offense. And in two years at WSU, Arbuckle’s offenses finished in the top 10 nationally in passing offense and passing touchdowns.

Even with Arbuckle’s pass-heavy mindset, Sawchuk believes he and his tailback counterparts will thrive in the new-look system.

“Different schemes, different playcalls,” Sawchuk said. “But a lot of the same routes, some of the same schemes, same runs. It’s just adjusting to his call style, what he likes to do. But ultimately, he has some good stuff, he has some smart stuff, I like what he’s doing. Getting a lot of opportunities to make big plays from all positions, so it’s been great.”

OU’s offense, particularly in the passing game, was in dire need of that retooling after 2024.

The Sooners finished No. 121 nationally out of 134 NCAA Division I FBS programs in passing, averaging 167.1 yards per game. Their leading target was tight end Bauer Sharp, who ended the year with 324 receiving yards and subsequently transferred to LSU.

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To help with that, OU added wideouts Javonnie Gibson (Arkansas-Pine Bluff), Keontez Lewis (Southern Illinois), Josiah Martin (California) and Isaiah Sategna (Arkansas) from the transfer portal.

While the aerial attack will certainly be a focus of Arbuckle’s, the run game will play a major role, too.

Four of OU’s five leading tailbacks from 2024 — Jovantae Barnes, Taylor Tatum, Xavier Robinson and Sawchuk — return to the roster in 2025. The Sooners also recently logged a commitment from Cal running back transfer Jaydn Ott, who ran for more than 2,000 yards in three seasons with the Golden Bears.

“Seen a lot of really good things from (the running backs),” Arbuckle said. “They've been able to run the ball downhill hard. They've shown up every day, and they've done some great things out of the backfield. They've done some great things inside the box in pass protection. Great group of kids.”

Because of OU’s passing struggles a year ago, the Sooners leaned heavily on their run game. As a team, Oklahoma rushed 521 times and attempted just 373 passes.

Those numbers will likely even out in 2025 under Arbuckle’s air-raid system. But as long as points are the result, Sawchuk isn’t concerned.

“I think it’s scoring friendly, honestly,” Sawchuk said. “There’s a lot of opportunities to make a lot of plays from all positions. I love what (Arbuckle’s) doing. I love what he’s calling. I love the scheme’s that he’s doing. So I’m excited for it this year.”