In Saturday's 44-16 victory over Tulsa, Ayat booted three field goals, including a 56-yarder to match Denver Bronco kicker Jason Elam's UH record.

Yesterday, the Kamehameha Schools graduate was named the Western Athletic Conference's Player of the Week for special teams.

"Coming in as a freshman, I already had it in my mind that '56' was the record," said Ayat, a 6-foot, 200-pound senior. "I looked at the (UH) media guide. I wanted to see what possible records were out there for me to break. I was well aware of it."

He said he even scribbled "56" on a list of 10 goals he keeps in a notebook.

There was one hitch: Ayat did not know he was attempting a record-tying field goal when he lined up for the milestone kick.

All he knew was holder Kurt Milne was "on the paint of the 'H' that's in the center (of the field)," Ayat said. "I realized, 'It's pretty far,' but I didn't know the exact distance."

He aimed for a spot just inside the right upright, anticipating the kick hooking because of the longer follow-through he uses when kicking from great distances.

"It worked out OK," he said. "It started to drift left, but it stayed in."

Returning to the sidelines, "my teammates were telling me, 'It was 56, 57,' " he recalled. "I said, 'Oh, yeah? That's great.' "

He added: "It was a great operation as a whole: good snap, good hold and great blocking. Being at that distance, you have to have perfect operation, and it was."

Two summers ago, Elam, who was on a family vacation in Hawai'i, and Ayat met for the first time. They spoke of the record.

"He encouraged me," Ayat said. "He was nice about it. ... He gave me little tips here and there."

UH coach June Jones said Ayat was deserving of the WAC award based on his kickoff in the final quarter. A personal foul and then a UH encroachment forced Ayat to kick off from the 15. Ayat's kick soared 72 yards on the fly and was fumbled out of bounds at the Tulsa 18.

"That was an incredible, incredible kick," Jones said.

Ayat said: "I really got a good hit on that one and drove the guy way deep. I just wanted to give our defense good field position. I wanted to drive it as far as possible. It felt like a really good hit. Coach Jones was happy."

Ayat, who has fully recovered from a groin injury suffered in training camp, was perfect on three field-goal attempts and five point-after kicks. The only smudge came when he whiffed on a tackle during Ashlan Davis' 51-yard kickoff return in the third quarter.

"I was kind of bracing myself in the special teams meeting," he said. "I had it in my mind: stay outside and stay deep. But when it came to the moment, I let the guy get outside of me and I dove to try and trip him up. I was thankful and glad somebody else got him.

"Maybe that's why I didn't get the award for Defensive Player of the Week."