There aren't many incoming players on the Florida State roster that come in with greater expectations than running back Gavin Sawchuk. The last time Seminole fans got a glimpse of Sawchuk, he was running for 100 yards and a touchdown for the Oklahoma Sooners against FSU In the 2022 Cheez-It Bowl from Orlando.
That was Sawchuk's debut on the big stage, so to speak. The following year he had a large role in the Sooners offense and rushed for 744 yards and nine touchdowns in 12 games (seven starts). Injuries, most notably a strain quad, played a big part in Sawchuk's inability to get much going last season.
Oklahoma true freshman running back Gavin Sawchuk misses the backside lane with Florida State’s MIKE flowing with the line
— Kegan Reneau (@KeganReneau) January 1, 2023
Same play later in the game, doesn’t miss it pic.twitter.com/sRK2GW2PRM
In April, Sawchuk decided to enter the transfer portal and within 10 days he was committed to FSU. Now that the 5-foot-11, 200-pound redshirt junior is in the fold, he's expected to compete with Roydell Williams for the RB1 designation.
Sawchuk met with the local media earlier this week and talked about the decision to transfer from the Sooners along with the opportunity that awaits him at FSU. When asked about his performance against the 'Noles in 2022, Sawchuk talked about the one thing that kept sticking out to him.
"It was cool," Sawchuk said. "The one thing that stuck out for sure was the chant. It was kind of hard not to do it, but I'm free to do it now."
Gavin Sawchuk loves the competition and family nature of the FSU running backs room
Gus Malzahn wants FSU to run the ball effectively in 2025 and the good news he'll have a lot of running backs to choose from. While Sawchuk and Williams are widely expected to be the top two backs, there is a lot of buzz surrounding top freshman Ousmane Kromah. He will be battling Caziah Holmes and Kam Davis for more carries.
Sawchuk sees the crowded running backs room as a plus and believes that the competition will make everyone better.
"All those guys are great in that room," Sawchuk said. "They are really competitive but they want the best for each other. One back can't really run the ball the whole game, it's going to take a couple of us. Somebody's hot one game, somebody's hot the next. We just want to build off of each other and continue to compete."
With so many mouths to feed, there might not be a better coach than Malzahm to make sure everyone in the running backs room gets an opportunity to shine.
"He was at UCF. When I took a visit here, we met with Coach Malzahn, and we went through the offense," Sawchuck said. "I learned about some of the different schemes he likes to run and the different things he does to try to get athletes the ball in space. I love watching it. There's a lot of stuff that he does that I'm familiar with, and I've seen it before. When I was at Oklahoma, we played UCF and it was a dangerous offense."