Oklahoma RB Gavin Sawchuk named to 2024 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, Wuerffel named

By OU Media Relations

NORMAN — University of Oklahoma running back Gavin Sawchuk was selected to the 2024 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team and was named a semifinalist for the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy, the organizations announced Tuesday.

Sawchuk is part of the prestigious group of 22 college football players to earn Good Works recognition for their extraordinary commitment to making a lasting impact off the field through contributions to the community and the world at large. The Wuerffel Trophy will be presented later this year to one of the 11 FBS players selected to the Good Works Team.

Sawchuk, a redshirt sophomore from Littleton, CO, has donated his time during the summer, spring break and off weeks to help improve not only the local community in the Norman and Oklahoma City area, but communities around the world, from Hawai’i to South Africa.

Sawchuk was part of a group that took a service trip to Hawai’i over spring break in 2024, helping to clean up and deliver supplies to the Maui and Lahaina communities affected by last year’s wildfires. He and teammates cleaned the Lahaina Luna baseball field, unloaded and organized three semi-tractor trailers with supplies, clothing and food for Maui residents, served at Citizens Church mentoring and encouraging children who lost their homes in fires and volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club of Honolulu.

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Sawchuk helped pack more than 40,000 meals to send to people in need in Haiti. During open week 2023, Sawchuk and his colleagues worked with 1-1-1 Project Bunk Bed to build more than 325 beds to be distributed to children involved in child welfare in the state of Oklahoma.

Last summer, Sawchuk traveled to South Africa to improve communities in Cape Town and Johannesburg, serving at Capella House in Cape Town, a public school with a large at-risk population, by removing litter and debris from the grounds. In Johannesburg, he served at Onthatile, a ministry for foster and foster children, helping clear debris for a new house to be built on the property.

Sawchuk also served at The Bridge Impact Center for Youth and Young Adults in Oklahoma City, clearing grounds and painting the building, and helped with community garden work and beautification of two miles along Martin Luther King Ave. . During OU’s Open Week 2022, Sawchuk delivered meals to more than 50 local residents through Meals on Wheels and helped paint a fence and build a playhouse for a single-mother family placed in a new home through Habitat for Humanity. In addition, Sawchuk helped organize and coordinate the Ignite concert and night of ministry through Ignite Church in Norman, which was attended by more than 3,000 people on the OU campus.

On the field, Sawchuk has played in 17 career games (starting his last 10), rushing for 884 yards and 10 touchdowns on 153 carries. His 744 rushing yards and 120 carries in 2023 led the team, and his nine TDs were the most among OU quarterbacks. He rushed for over 100 yards in each of the final five games last season and has six career 100-yard performances. He has started each of OU’s three contests this season.

Sawchuk is the eighth Oklahoma football player named to the AFCA Good Works team, joining Jacob Gutierrez (2006), Nic Harris (2007), Gerald McCoy (2008), Quinton Carter (2010), Caleb Kelly (2018), Chance Sylvie (2020) and Ethan Downs (2023).

The finalists and recipients of the 2024 Allstate Wuerffel Trophy will be selected by a national voting committee, including a fan voting component. The 2024 recipient, who will also be recognized as the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team Captain, will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards broadcast Dec. 12 on ESPN. Fans are encouraged to visit to cast their vote now through November 15th.

The Allstate AFCA Good Works Team was established in 1992 by the University Football Association to recognize the extra efforts of players and student support staff off the field. The AFCA became the award’s governing body in 1997 and continues to honor players who go the extra mile for those in need. Allstate became the presenting sponsor beginning in the 2008 season.