Barnes faked the handoff and dropped back. On the left edge, in his first-ever college rep, Fano neutralized his man, giving Barnes four clean seconds in the pocket as he launched the ball downfield to Money Parks for a 70-yard touchdown.Bryson Barnes and Money Parks connect for a 70-yard touchdown vs Florida on Utah's first offensive play of the 2023 season! 🏈💣💰 pic.twitter.com/wbrmsHv3ul— The Comeback (@thecomeback) September 1, 2023“He was actually isolated at the point of attack on a good defensive end. He did a nice job, gave Bryson enough time to complete the pass,” Harding said.

“... For that to be his first collegiate play is pretty awesome.”On Thursday, Fano is expected to be one of the first offensive linemen off the board at the NFL draft, likely becoming just the 11th player in University of Utah history to be selected in the draft’s opening round and the first Ute offensive lineman drafted in the opening round since Garett Bolles in 2017.A star on the offensive line at Timpview, Fano had schools from all over the country vying for his services. Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh played cards with Spencer and his family, while Oregon’s Dan Lanning flew in for a game of Monopoly.

Utah put the all-out blitz on as well.Harding, Whittingham and the Utes were honest with Fano and didn’t promise him any starting spot. Timpview senior offensive tackle Spencer Fano celebrates with his teammates after winning a 5A football state semifinal game 38-0 over Salem Hills at Cedar Valley High School in Eagle Mountain on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. | Yukai Peng, Deseret News “I really think the fact of how honest we were. I know he had a lot of people talk about how if he came to their particular school, he was going to start and offered him really a lot of false hope,” Harding said.

“But I think what Coach Whitt and myself, we just talked about the opportunity to play close to home, be a hometown hero, and have an opportunity to come in and start right away.”Harding also outlined how Fano could have a similar path as Bolles, a local product who came to Utah after spending time at Snow College and developed into a reliable starting NFL tackle.In the end, Fano prayed about his decision and chose Utah over Oregon, Michigan and Clemson.“I’m a very religious person and I prayed about it really hard,” Fano said in 2024. “I feel like there might’ve been other schools at the time that, I don’t know, might’ve piqued my interest a lot, but at the end of the day when I prayed about it, I felt like I got my answer was Utah.” A day later, Fano’s brother, Logan, announced his transfer from BYU to Utah.

The pair played together in Salt Lake City for three years and now will likely accomplish their NFL dreams together — most mock drafts peg defensive end Logan Fano in the fourth-to-seventh-round range.‘Collective experiences’ paid offFano’s freshman season at left tackle had its ups and downs, but the experience he gained was extremely valuable as he packed on the pounds under the watch of Utah’s strength team.“I think just his ability to allow the game to slow down as each, really, game went on or certainly as the seasons went on,” Harding said. “As a true freshman, a little bit shaky at times, inconsistent at times.

But I think all of those collective experiences allowed him to play really at a high level, both his sophomore and junior seasons.” In 2024, Utah moved Caleb Lomu to left tackle and Fano back to his high school position of right tackle. With a full college season under his belt, Fano played at an extremely high level in his sophomore and junior seasons.Fano finished the 2024 season with a Pro Football Focus grade of 92.6 — No. 1 among offensive tackles that played 100 or more snaps — and allowed just one sack and 11 hurries the entire season. This season, he ranked tied for No. 11 among offensive tackles that played 100 or more snaps with a PFF grade of 83.9 and allowed no sacks and just five hurries while helping the Utes set school records for rushing yards and rushing touchdowns in a season.“Early in his career, there were times where he had a difficult time of letting go of a bad play and it ended up cost