‘We’re very confident in those guys’: Can Utah’s offensive line take a step forward?

Prior to last year’s Las Vegas Bowl against Northwestern following opt outs from right tackle Sataoa Laumea and left guard Keaton Bills, Utah offensive line coach Jim Harding’s plan was to slot Tanoa Togiai, who played in 10 games, as the starting right tackle for the game.

But in a team meeting, Spencer Fano, who was just one of just two true freshmen in the nation to start the season at left tackle, raised his hand and asked to play at right tackle in Vegas.

“I wish I had some revolutionary reason why I did it, but honestly it was just him asking,” Harding said.

After playing one of the most critical positions in the game, protecting the quarterback’s blind side at left tackle, Fano is back at the position he played in high school.

Fano starred at right tackle at Timpview — earning Deseret News 5A All-State honors in his senior season — and chose the Utes over Clemson, Michigan and Oregon.

A few months later, he was starting at Rice-Eccles Stadium against Florida.

“It’s not very common to have your left tackle be a true freshman, but he’s talented enough and has performed well enough against really good players,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said last season.

Now in his sophomore season, Fano is making the move back to his old high school position, one that is more comfortable for him based on prior experience, though he proved last season that he can play on either side of the line.

NFL scouts praised the versatility of Laumea, whose natural position is at guard but who proved he could play both positions with Utah. While Fano isn’t switching positions, he’s showing he can play on either side of the line, something that will only be a positive in the eyes of NFL scouts.

“It’s an opportunity for me to show that I can play on both sides, which I really appreciate Coach Harding for. I feel like I like that because yeah, NFL teams can see that I can play both sides,” Fano said.

Players often see the biggest jump in performance during their sophomore season after getting the freshman jitters out of the way and an entire year in the program under their belt, and that’s no different for Fano, who feels like he’s “ahead of the curve” this season.

“Oh, it’s so much different. Last year I was so stressed before every practice I was messing up every play, but this year I feel like the game’s really slowed down for me and it’s a lot more enjoyable. It’s a lot more fun,” Fano said.

He’s also embracing more of a leadership role in the position group, and while he was quick to shout out more veteran players such as Michael Mokofisi, Jaren Kump and Johnny Maea, Fano is finding his voice in the room.

The 6-foot-5, 304-pounder, who came into fall camp noticeably stronger, is one of just two returning full time starters from the 2023 offensive line, along with Mokofisi at right gard.

The other three starting spots on the line need to be filled, with Laumea and Bills in the NFL and center Kolinu’u Faaiu having transferred to Texas A&M this offseason.

Penciled in at left tackle, Fano’s old spot, is redshirt freshman Caleb Lomu, who played just 25 snaps in his redshirt season last year but has impressed enough in spring and fall camp for coaches to trust him to protect quarterback Cam Rising’s blind side.

“He had a really, really good offseason with (strength) coach (Doug) Elisaia,” Harding said of Lomu. “Put on good weight. He’s over 300 pounds. I think he came in at 303 yesterday. Got stronger, both upper and lower body.”

What Harding is looking for in fall camp is for Lomu to continue to move the way he did in spring before bulking up and show his physicality consistently.

Togiai is set to start at left guard after playing 355 snaps in 2023, including two starts at left tackle.

“He’s really done a nice job of cutting out his mental errors,” Harding said this spring. “I think he has spent extra time on his own as well, just to understand what’s going on defensively, really trying to hone in the finer points of the technique and fundamentals... May have made the biggest impact from where he was in December to April, and so I’m really excited to see what he does his fall.”

Center is still an ongoing battle between Kump and Maea, both of whom have extensive experience at Utah. Kump has played in 35 games at Utah, starting 17, including the first five at center last year before being replaced by Faaiu. Maea has seen action in 25 games with three starts but was injured for much of last season.

No matter who wins that competition, Harding is confident in their abilities, which helps explain why the Utes didn’t bring anyone into the room via the transfer portal.

“Jaren got the majority of the reps in the spring with Johnny missing the spring, but both of those guys are going to have an opportunity to win that job,” Harding said.

“Jaren, just because he’s healthy will start out with the first group, but Johnny, assuming he’s going to continue to stay healthy, will get opportunities with the first group at some point in fall camp.”

It wasn’t a banner year for the offensive line last year, with Whittingham calling the position group out during two separate postgame press conferences.

The quarterback play, and an injured Ja’Quinden Jackson, didn’t help matters, with opponents stacking the box and limiting Utah to its worst rushing output in a season since 2017.

That being said, the Utes know the offensive line has to improve this season, especially with its College Football Playoff aspirations hinging on the health of Rising.

With an athletic offensive line that offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig said could be the “strength of the offense” during the spring, the Utes think this group will take a step forward. Aside from the starters, Utah feels like there’s enough playable depth to survive the season.

“We’re very confident in those guys ... We feel like we’ve got about 10 guys, which is what you hope for, that will be game ready come fall camp,” Whittingham said.

Even with the outside — and internal — expectations to win the Big 12, and the pressure to improve from last season, Fano is blocking out the noise and locking in during fall camp.

“We know who we are and we know the things that we can do, so I feel like all the outside noise doesn’t really matter to us,” he said. “We already know what we’re capable of and we know that we’re going to win games already, so I feel like we’re just going to do what we need to do.”