Spencer Benton placed on scholarship leading into 2018 season

It is one of the annual rights of passage that accompany the approaching college football season — walk-ons being put on scholarship. Often, the announcement is coupled with creative videos or elaborate plans in order to surprise the scholarship recipient.

That was not the case for Iowa State’s newest scholarship football player. Senior defensive end Spencer Benton was awarded the program’s 85th and final scholarship for the 2018 football season with the only fanfare coming in the form of a blog posted by the athletic department’s communications team.

Benton enters his senior season with 32 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks during his Iowa State career. He played in all 13 games last season for the Cyclones, recording 11 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks and earning Academic All-Big 12 honors.

He was listed as the backup defensive end behind Enyi Uwazurike on the Cyclones’ initial 2018 depth chart released earlier this week at Big 12 Media Days in Dallas.

Jared Stansbury

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Jared a native of Clarinda, Iowa, started as the Cyclone Fanatic intern in August 2013, primarily working as a videographer until starting on the women’s basketball beat prior to the 2014-15 season. Upon earning his Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Iowa State in May 2016, Jared was hired as the site’s full-time staff writer, taking over as the primary day-to-day reporter on football and men’s basketball. He was elevated to the position of managing editor in January 2020. He is a regular contributor on 1460 KXNO in Des Moines and makes regular guest appearances on radio stations across the Midwest. Jared resides in Ankeny with his four-year-old puggle, Lolo.

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