JUSTIN AYAT

Placekicker

2007:	New York Jets
2005:	University of Hawaii

 

Awards:

 

1st Team All-American Sporting News: Freshmen

 

Tied Jason Elam for longest field goal in University of Hawaii history: 56 yards

 

3rd in all-time scoring: Western Athletic Conference: 370 points, behind only Marshal

Faulk: 376 points and Jason Elam: 395 points 

 

2nd all-time leading field goals made: Western Athletic Conference: 59

Up to this point the 2001 University of Hawai'i Warrior football team could be summed up in one word: resilience. And no player fits that description better than freshman kicker Justin Ayat.

After a slow start that included a potential game-winning miss against Southern Methodist University, the former Kamehameha graduate has hit six field goals in a row, two of them coming from 50-yards or longer. Two weeks ago, against Tulsa, Ayat booted a 55-yarder, 1-yard shy of tying the all-time Hawai'i record for longest field goal.

Ayat's performance earned him Western Athletic Conference special team's player of the week honors and more importantly, renewed confidence.

"I didn't even know about it," Ayat said, "It was a good surprise. It added to my confidence. I just wanted to go out there and show people what I know I'm capable of doing."

UH offensive assistant Tyson Helton knows what his kicker is capable of doing; it just took a little time for Ayat to get comfortable.

"(Ayat) puts a lot of time and effort to get better," he said, "When you're a young kicker, you need a couple of games to get comfortable. He didn't do necessarily good in those games, but you just continue to go up and up."

It's not easy for anyone coming straight out of high school to make the transition to the college game, but nailing a few long ones can work wonders.

This season, Ayat has hit on 11 of 16 field goal attempts, 29 of 30 point after touchdown attempts, and is finally starting to feel more comfortable in his role.

"After the UTEP game, I felt more relaxed," Ayat said. "You got to have that feeling, if you think about it, it gets worse and worse."

"I think the great thing about Justin — his blood is like ice," Helton said "He doesn't worry if he misses the first one; he's going to go back out there and kick it like it's his first one."

UH associate head coach George Lumpkin has compared Ayat to former UH kicker Jason Elam in terms of their leg strength and approach to the game.

But Ayat isn't ready to make comparisons just yet. "I've seen (Elam) kick before when I was young," he said, "but I never met him, so I can't say."

 

Justin Ayat