DALLAS (FWAA) – Utah offensive tackle Spencer Fano was named the recipient of the 80th Outland Trophy on tonight during The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN. The Outland Trophy is awarded annually to the nation’s best college interior lineman on offense or defense. Fano is Utah’s first Outland Trophy winner.
The official presentation to Fano will be made at the Outland Trophy Awards Dinner sponsored by Werner Enterprises and produced by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee in Omaha, Neb., on Jan. 21, 2026.
Fano, a 6-6, 308-pound junior from Spanish Fork, Utah, was selected by the All-America Committee of the Football Writers Association of America from three finalists that also included center Logan Jones of Iowa and defensive tackle Kayden McDonald of Ohio State. He is only the second winner from a Big 12 school since 2004 but the second in three seasons; Texas defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat played in the Big 12 in 2023.
"Winning this trophy means the world to me," Fano said. "Since I first started playing offensive tackle as a kid, attaining this trophy has been one of my biggest goals. Being in this position is truly surreal and it is hard to put into words. I am just so incredibly grateful and blessed to be surrounded by incredible people. To me this is a group accomplishment. I never would have received something like this without my parents, my sibblings, my coaches, my teammates and most of all my Heavenly Father. Thank you so much and Go Utes!"
Fano is the Utes’ first Outland Trophy representation in 23 seasons. Utah’s only previous finalist had been offensive tackle Jordan Gross in 2002.
"It's always special when we can give the Outland Trophy to a dominant offensive lineman, and Spencer Fano was just that for the Utes this season,” said Bill Bender, the 2025 FWAA President from The Sporting News. “He was a force as both a pass blocker and helped power a Utah run offense that ranked second in the nation in yards per game. He continues the proud tradition of this award."
The Big 12’s Offensive Lineman of the Year, Fano led Utah’s (10-2) offensive front – known as the Wasatch Front – in paving the way for the second-most rushing yards in school history at 3,237 to date, which ranks second in FBS and first among Power Conference teams. The right tackle has an 84.8 overall grade this season from Pro Football Focus, ranking 12th in FBS.
In the preseason at the Big 12 Media Days, Utah head coach Kyle Willingham, who announced he would step down at the end of the season today, said he thought he had a set of five starting offensive linemen who would all be selected in the upcoming NFL Draft, with Fano at the top. The group entered 2025 as one of the most experienced offensive lines in the country, coming into the year with 234 combined career games played. All 234 combined games in that preseason total were played at Utah; there were no transfers.
Utah reset its 2025 offense to be built around the run game and has now closed its regular season listing seventh nationally at 478.6 total yards per game. The team lit up the scoreboard with 40.9 points per game – sixth in the country – and led the Big 12 in third-down conversions (52.8%).
The Utes enter their Dec. 31 SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl matchup against Nebraska needing just 27 yards and two touchdowns to break their single-season program rushing records. One of Utah’s team captains, Fano has allowed just five pressures and five hurries on the quarterback and has yet to allow a sack in 357 pass blocking opportunities, per PFF. He was also part of a unit that only allowed 11 sacks, tied for eighth nationally. That protection allowed Utah to throw for multiple touchdowns in 10 of 12 games.
"Spencer Fano has been on our radar all season and was an Outland Player of the Week," said Steve Richardson, FWAA Executive Director. "He has been a major factor in the Utes' success moving the ball in the wide open Big 12. He obviously is going to be a high draft pick and greatly help some NFL team."
The junior has been a mainstay of the Utes’ offensive line for the past three seasons starting in 30 consecutive games, 25 of them at right tackle. He has 36 career starts in his 37 total games.
Fano was the Outland Trophy National Player of the Week on the weekend of Nov. 1 following Utah’s 45-14 win over Cincinnati, earning PFF’s highest national grade while the Utes rolled up 480 total yards. The Utah offensive line he captains was named the Big 12 Offensive Line of the Week four times (Sept. 2, Oct. 13, Oct. 27, Nov. 15).
Fano is the second consecutive offensive lineman to win the Outland Trophy, following Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. in 2024, and the fifth from the offensive side of the last eight seasons.
The Outland Trophy winner is chosen from finalists who are among selections to the annual FWAA All-America Team. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the entire membership, selects a 26-man first team and eventually three Outland finalists. Committee members, then by individual ballot, select the winner. Only interior linemen on offense or defense are eligible for the award; ends are not eligible.
The Outland Trophy, celebrating 80 years since its founding, is the third-oldest major college football award. Created in 1946 when Dr. John Outland presented the FWAA with a financial contribution to initiate the award, the Outland Trophy has been given to the best interior lineman in college football ever since. Dr. Outland, an All-American at the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1890s, eventually took up practice in Kansas City, Mo. An avid outdoorsman, Dr. Outland believed linemen did not get the credit they deserved and wanted an award to recognize them.
The Outland Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses college football’s most prestigious awards. The NCFAA’s 25 awards have honored more than 950 recipients since 1935. For more information about the NCFAA, visit ncfaa.org.
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The Greater Omaha Sports Committee, founded in 1977, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, consisting of more than 1,300 men and women from the City of Omaha, the State of Nebraska, and others. The Committee serves to communicate, develop, initiate and promote sports activities in the Greater Omaha sports area. In addition to the Outland Trophy Award Events and Dinner, the Greater Omaha Sports Committee promotes high school, college, and professional sports in the Greater Omaha area and the Midwest. For more information contact Bob Mancuso Jr., Chairman at bmancuso@showofficeonline.com or see showofficeonline.com.
Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,300 men and women who cover college football. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.