Like most University of Hawai'i football players, freshman placekicker Daniel Kelly aspires to playing at the next level.

For Kelly, that means a higher trajectory for his field-goal and point-after kicks.

This season, four of his line-drive kicks were blocked.

In last week's 38-28 road loss to Nevada, his blocked extra-point kick "was so low, it was embarrassing" he said. "I think it hit somebody's back. I don't think it hit anybody's hands."

Kelly traces his problems to his background as a soccer goalie.

"Goal kicks are not meant to go super high," he said. "They're meant to go upfield as far as they can. I need to get a little more pop under the ball."

He likened his kicking techniques to golf swings.

"I was more doing what a driver would do," he said. "The head of the club is so flat, (the struck ball) gets driven. That last one (against Nevada), it looked like I had a 1-wood. What I need to do is basically use a sandwedge. Instead of driving it, I need to scoop it."

Kelly spent 90 minutes Monday, the Warriors' official rest day, working on elevating his kicks.

"He's got a good leg," said Mouse Davis, who tutors the kickers. "He just needed to work on the trajectory of his foot hitting the ball. He'll be fine."

UH coach June Jones said: "He's a freshman. He'll grow up. He's got tremendous potential. How good he's going to be depends on how hard he works at it."

Kelly said he accepted that challenge as a high school senior in May, when he agreed to join the Warriors as a non-scholarship player. He divided his summer workouts into two sessions. For about four weeks, he concentrated on plyometrics and cardiovascular workouts. For the next four weeks, he mixed cardio workouts with kicking drills.

In a typical summer day, he would work out at a neighborhood school in Temecula, Calif. One discipline involved running up 50 stairs, jogging around a portion of the campus, and descending 50 stairs. Each lap was measured at about a quarter mile.

"I used to do 10, kick for an hour, and do another 10," Kelly said.

Kelly and Jeremy Shibata were the only two kickers in training camp. Nolan Miranda was set to join at the end of camp.

"I knew I had an opportunity to start," Kelly said, noting Justin Ayat completed his NCAA eligibility after the 2004 Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl. "It wasn't handed to me. I had to work for it, and I had to compete for it. I knew that coming in. The coaches told me: 'Come in and prove yourself.' "

Shibata moved to punter, and three weeks into the season, Miranda left the team.

Kelly has impressed the coaches with his cool confidence.

"I never look at (kicking) as a pressure situation," he said. "If I were to ever get one blocked, people might say, 'Oh, the pressure got to him.' It's no, it's not the pressure. It's more so I thought too much and didn't do what I needed to do. It has nothing to do with the pressure. It's me needing to gain control of myself."

Kelly also has a ruggedness that is in contrast to his aw-shucks demeanor and a 6-foot-3, 199-pound frame that could serve as a ring-toss target.

"I'm not a typical kicker," said Kelly, who has two tackles this season. "If I see a guy come at me, I'll go after him."

His technique is to stand straight and, when a blocker approaches, to lunge toward the knees.

"The hips can move and the shoulders can move, but the knees can't move," Kelly said. "Their feet can cut, but it's hard to go one way if your knees are going the other."

Davis said: "He's not going to get into something where he creates a problem. Now, another guy might take a swat at him, but he won't swat back. He's smart enough to do that — and kickers aren't always the smartest men in the world."

PETERS PAU FOR SEASON

Ending speculation, Jones said injured free safety Leonard Peters will not play for the Warriors in the final three games.

"He's done for the year," Jones said.

Peters has not played since the season opener, when he suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

Jones said Peters will attend today's practice to "test" his knee. But Jones said the injury will not allow Peters to compete in contact drills this season.

"I know it's not 100 percent," Peters said. "I want to come out and test it."

Peters is expected to apply for a medical hardship. If successful, he would return for a sixth UH season. An applicant must wait until the end of the season to request a medical hardship.

Three other seniors will seek medical hardships to extend their careers.