Youth movement at RB
If we said it once, we said it a hundred times in 2021 that the Sooners only had two scholarship running backs with experience to begin the season in Kennedy Brooks and Eric Gray.
And if things worked out the way both those guys wanted, then they’d be saying goodbye to Norman sooner than later.
Brooks left following the 2021 season, and Gray announced earlier this month he was opting out of the Cheez-It Bowl vs. No. 13 Florida State, coming up Thursday evening.
Marcus Major has cleaned up his academic issues off the field from 2021, but the injury bug on the field hasn’t allowed him to bust out like everybody hoped he would.
It showed its ugly head again when Major came to bowl practices riding the scooter and in a boot, and the message was clear. It’s a young man’s game for OU at running back.
It’s time for freshmen backs Jovantae Barnes and Gavin Sawchuk to show what they can do. Barnes has had some ample opportunities to do so, but he’s not just a secondary choice vs. the Seminoles. This will be his show.
“Very twitchy. Very athletic guy that can run the ball. Runs the ball super hard,” tight end Brayden Willis said. “He does a really good job and I said from – if y’all could go through the records and dig up from my podcast I said from the jump that I thought he was going to be a great player. The biggest message that I would have for him is just stay confident. Go in there with confidence.”
Barnes rushed for 411 yards this season on 89 attempts, good for a 4.6 average per carry. He also had four touchdowns.
Gray was a workhorse for the Sooners, but Barned never shied away from any of his chances. It’s been that attitude that has impressed his teammates.
“I mean Jovantae Barnes is a really explosive runner,” wide receiver Marvin Mims said. “The dude runs like he’s angry all the time. He has some game film on him.
“Then Gavin Sawchuk may be one of the fastest guys on the team, with him running in a straight line and also him with his progression throughout the season, just being a running back and being able to know when to use that speed and go full speed and when to be decisive and slow down a little bit.”
Then there is Sawchuk, who has seen just three snaps this season. He’s guaranteed a redshirt no matter what happens vs. FSU and regardless of the NCAA helping true freshmen by saying the bowl game doesn’t factor into the four-game rule.
He’s been traveling with the team for most of the year, and his mindset is one his coaches and teammates alike can appreciate.
“I’ve prepared like I had opportunity for every (game),” Sawchuk said. “You never know what happens in the game of football. The minute that you’re not prepared, that’s when your number gets called and then you’re not ready. I was prepared. I was ready. But I’m excited for the opportunity I have and I can’t wait for it.”
Barnes got a leg up on Sawchuk by arriving in the winter as a mid-year enrollee. He showed flashes in the spring that his true freshman year could offer a glimpse of what’s to come.
Add in the on and off injury situation with Major, and Barnes was one of the freshmen who saw significant and valuable playing time in 2022.
But he’s happy for Sawchuk and excited to see what the two can do together.
“I feel like Gavin has been great,” Barnes said. “The whole season Gavin has been great and always having a smile on his face. He’s been confident, even during the lows. Always keeping us up. That’s why I always love going to Gavin. Anything I do wrong, he makes sure I keep my head up.
“The whole year, Gavin never had a frown on his face. He was never down on himself. He was always up and ready to go to practice every day and compete. He did that. Now he gets a great opportunity to show his talents that I know he has.”
The Sooners have a strong history of having a dynamic and productive one-two combo at the running back spot. OU fans would love nothing more than for Barnes and Sawchuk to begin writing the rest of their OU story with a banner outing against the Seminoles.