After missing Iowa State’s season opener for an unspecified team rules violation, senior receiver Darius Darks was a key contributor in the Cyclones’ 44-41 win against Iowa on Saturday.

Darks, a team captain, caught three passes for 22 yards with one of those catches being a four-yard touchdown pass that tied the game at 24-24 with 1:17 left in regulation.

Darks admits that physically he might not be the best receiver on the ISU offense, but his focus and concentration gives him an advantage when trying to haul in a pass.

“There are other wide receivers that I play with that are probably a little bit more athletic, maybe faster, maybe bigger or stronger than I am, so I take pride in the little things,” Darks said. “I look the ball all the way in, nothing else really matters. I don’t really worry about getting hit as much and that allows me to take a split-second longer to concentrate on the ball instead of looking away or trying to get downfield. I make sure I catch the ball first.”

It’s that focus and concentration that has allowed Darks to have a successful career in the cardinal and gold, making 109 catches — just five short of entering the school’s top 10 in the category.

“DD has, I think, the best concentration of all our receivers, and that’s because he practices that way so aggressively every day. He eyes every ball right into his fingers and into the catch,” said ISU coach Paul Rhoads.

With junior quarterback Steele Jantz making a lot of throws on the run and outside of the pocket, Darks had more time to find the open spot in the Iowa defense, something he hopes will continue throughout the year.

“As a receiver, that’s the kind of thing you pray for. He scrambles a lot, but he always keeps his eyes downfield and that’s the thing you love about him,” Darks said. “He spreads the ball out more than any quarterback I’ve been around and he’s a huge part of our success. If he continues that throughout the season, we’re going to have a really good season on offense.”

Cyclones will wear white Friday night

The rumor of a potential uniform change for Friday night’s game against Connecticut surfaced via Twitter on Sunday after ISU free safety Jacques Washington tweeted, “No perkin them all white uniforms gonna look good on ESPN Friday night.”

Rhoads confirmed Tuesday that the Cyclones will debut a white jersey-white pants combination in Friday night’s game.

“The kids wanted them, so I went to Nike and tried to turn it around as fast as we could and we were able to get them in here for the start of the season, so we’re going to wear them this Friday,” Rhoads said.

There had also been a picture posted on the Internet of a white helmet with an ISU logo but Rhoads said, “there is no white helmet.”