Photo: Chris Gardner / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images
University of Oklahoma running back Gavin Sawchuk was selected to the 2024 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team and has been 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 Team recognition for their extraordinary commitment to making a lasting impact off the field through contributions to the community and 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.
A redshirt sophomore from Littleton, Colo., Sawchuk has donated his time during the summer, over spring breaks and during bye weeks to help improve not only the local Norman and Oklahoma City-area community, but also communities around the world from Hawai’i to South Africa.
Sawchuk was part of a group that made a service trip to Hawai’i during 2024 spring break, helping clean up and provide supplies for the Maui and Lahaina communities damaged by last year’s wildfires. He and teammates cleaned the Lahaina Luna baseball field, unloaded and organized three semi-tractor trailers of supplies, clothes and food for the people of Maui, served at Citizens Church mentoring and encouraging children who lost their homes in the fires, and volunteered at the Honolulu Boys and Girls Club.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Sawchuk helped pack more than 40,000 meals to be sent to people in need in Haiti. During the 2023 open week, Sawchuk and his teammates worked with 1-1-1 Project Bunk Bed to build more than 325 beds that were set to be distributed to children involved in child welfare throughout the state of Oklahoma.
Last summer, Sawchuk traveled to South Africa to improve the communities of Cape Town and Johannesburg, serving at Capella House in Cape Town, a public school with a large at-risk demographic, by removing trash and debris from the grounds. In Johannesburg, he served at Onthatile, a ministry for foster and adoptive children, helping clear debris for a new home to be built on the property.
Sawchuk also served at The Bridge Impact Center for youth and young adults in Oklahoma City, cleaning up the grounds and painting the building, and helped work on the community garden and with the beautification of two miles of area along Martin Luther King Ave. During OU’s 2022 open week, 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 via Habitat for Humanity. Additionally, Sawchuk helped organize and coordinate the Ignite concert and ministry night 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 (has started 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 rushing TDs were the most among OU running backs. He rushed for more than 100 yards in each of the last five games last season and has six career 100-yard rushing 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), Chanse Sylvie (2020) and Ethan Downs (2023).
The 2024 Allstate Wuerffel Trophy finalists and recipient will be selected by a national voting committee, including a fan vote 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 show on Dec. 12 on ESPN. Fans are encouraged to visit ESPN.com/Allstate to cast their vote now through Nov. 15.
The Allstate AFCA Good Works Team was established in 1992 by the College Football Association to recognize extra efforts by players and student support staff off the field. AFCA became the governing body of the award in 1997 and continues to honor players who go the extra mile for those in need. Allstate became the presenting sponsor starting with the 2008 season.
The following players and honorary head coach have been named to the 2024 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team:
Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)
Hayden Conner – University of Texas
Nick Dawkins – Penn State University
Garrett Greene – West Virginia University
Chase Griffin – UCLA
Dean Janikowski – Washington State University
Jack Kiser - University of Notre Dame
JJ Pegues – Ole Miss
Gavin Sawchuk - University of Oklahoma
Brayden Schager - University of Hawaii
Malaki Starks – University of Georgia
J.J. Weaver - University of Kentucky
Combined Divisions (FCS, II, III & NAIA)
Matthew DeVirgilio – Stonehill College
Aaron Ellingson – Bethel University (Minn.)
Micah Green – Dartmouth College
Thomas Grehan – Johns Hopkins University
Dru Johnson – Ashland University
Christo Kelly – College of the Holy Cross
Clayton Mosher – Indiana Wesleyan University
Isaac Pingel – Morningside University
Julian Rawlins – Davidson College
Jake Schwinghammer – Saint John’s University (Minn.)
Matt Wrather – John Carroll University
Honorary Head Coach
Marcus Freeman - University of Notre Dame