Iowa State’s leading tackler is back to where he belongs.

Senior safety James Smith is listed as a starter on the Iowa State’s most recent depth chart, ahead of junior Mike O’Connell who started the season opener against North Dakota State and was listed as the starter before being replaced at the last minute against Iowa.

“That came about on the practice field,” said head coach Paul Rhoads. “Right now he’s the number one guy.”

Smith, a redshirt senior, tallied up 85 tackles last season to lead the Cyclones in 2008, and had a nine-tackle effort against their in-state rival Hawkeyes.

O’Connell, Smith and junior college transfer David Sims have rotated so far this season at the two safety positions. The three have combined for three interceptions, 37 tackles and one pass breakup.

“James had an excellent week of practice and backed that up with a good football game against Iowa,” Rhoads said. “I still foresee a three-man rotation at the safety positions, but James Smith has really improved over the last two weeks.”

Smith, a native of Council Bluffs, has shown steady improvement to the coaching staff throughout Rhoads’ time in Ames, impressing the first-year coach.

“For a fifth-year player to make marked improvement, and stay out there with me tonight to do some extra tackling and so forth … that’s fun,” Rhoads said. “That’s why you coach.”

Reappearance of Darius Darks —Iowa State’s leading receiver from the 2008 season is finally healthy after dealing with a lingering hamstring injury during fall camp.

Sophomore Darius Darks — who had 49 catches, 477 yards and a touchdown last season — said Tuesday he expects to start seeing more of the field on Saturday night against Kent State.

“I missed a lot of practices, and it wouldn’t be fair for me to come back where I left off,” Darks said. “I had to earn it, but I’m good now and I’m ready to play.”

Darks has seen limited time in the two games this season, and has seen only a few balls thrown his way in the team’s new spread offense.

“It’s been hard, especially with what I did last year,” Darks said. “I take that and it makes me even more hungry to get out on the field and do what I’m prepared to do.”

It has yet to be seen how the standout from 2008 will fit into offensive coordinator Tom Herman’s wide-open offense in his brief stint on the field in the first two games.

However, Darks feels he’ll fit right in and help the offense get back on track after a poor showing against Iowa.

“On offense we pretty much know what we’re doing,” Darks said. “We need to get more in sync. We’ve just got to concentrate harder and play with a little bit more tempo.”

Kent State running back out — Kent State’s Eugene Jarvis is out for the remainder of the 2009 season after being diagnosed with a lacerated kidney.

Jarvis, a senior from Pittsburgh, has not been good news for the Cyclones in the teams’ previous meetings, gaining 350 total yards and three touchdowns in the two matchups.

The Cyclone coaching staff doesn’t think the injury to the star back will affect Kent State’s play calling come Saturday, though.

“Offensively they’re going to do the same thing, it’s just going to be different people,” said defensive coordinator Wally Burnham. “The first two games of the year they haven’t changed that much, so we’ll go ahead as planned and just expand on what we were going to do.”

Junior Andre Flowers will be Jarvis’ replacement on Saturday after having a 10-carry, 33-yard performance last week in a loss to Boston College.

Flowers’ best career performance came against Akron in 2008 when he ran 85 yards on 24 carries.

“Without knowing the difference in abilities between who’s behind [Jarvis] and him, it’s hard to tell,” Rhoads said. “They’re going to line up and they’re going to execute their offense.

“Eugene is a very good player and he’s an even better young man. I feel just sick for him and the lost opportunity he has.”

Two-and-a-half-point favorites — For the first time in almost a year, the Cyclones will be favored when they take the field on Saturday night at Dix Stadium.

Iowa State is listed as a two-and-a-half-point favorite over the Golden Flashes, the first time the team been picked as a favorite against a Football Bowl Subdivision team since the Cyclones were an early three-point favorite before their loss to Texas A&M last season.

This is also the first time the Cyclones have been favored on the road since traveling to Toledo in 2007.

“How about that?” Rhoads said with a smile. “We’ll take it.”