Running back Nate Ilaoa, who has been suffering from a sprained right ankle, said he expects to play in Saturday's football game against San Jose State.

Ilaoa, who leads the Warriors with 8.7 points per game, was held out of last week's 61-17 victory over Louisiana Tech.

"I had an ankle thing," said Ilaoa, who suffered the injury the previous week against Utah State. He did not practice last week.

"I kind of rolled it," Ilaoa said. "It's been bothering me. Coach (June Jones) didn't want it to get worse."

He said he was held out against Louisiana Tech because "I was trying to heal to make sure it would be 100 percent this week."

Ilaoa had missed all but one game during the 2003 and 2004 seasons because of knee and shoulder injuries. The NCAA awarded a special exemption allowing Ilaoa to play as a sixth-year senior this season.

Asked about skipping a game, Ilaoa said, "It's just one game. I played nine other ones previously (this season). I've still got four more. There's no problem with that."

Meanwhile, a magnetic resonance imaging — a procedure in which magnetic fields are used to create an image of the body's interior — showed nose tackle Kahai LaCount suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

LaCount said he does not know when — or if — he will return this season.

He is scheduled to earn a bachelor's degree in May. After that, he will seek employment as a federal firefighter.

Defensive lineman Keala Watson yesterday participated in running drills, but not contact workouts. After practice, he wore an ice pack on his sore right knee.

Watson has missed two games after suffering a torn meniscus in his right knee. He underwent arthroscopic surgery to scrape the torn cartilage. He said he hopes to play on Saturday.

Defensive lineman Renolds Fruean, who is recovering from a sprained right ankle, appears set to play.

KELLY CORRECTING KICKS

Cancel that sympathy card for placekicker Daniel Kelly.

Against Louisiana Tech, Kelly was replaced when he hooked out of bounds three consecutive kickoffs in the second half.

"I would have benched me after my second one," Kelly said. "I'm glad coach gave me the opportunity to kick a third one. It just wasn't my night."

Since then, Kelly said, he has been criticized on Internet messages boards and received "sarcastic" advice.

"It's one of those things," Kelly said. "I don't expect any sympathy from anybody. I don't give any sympathy for anybody else screwing up. I don't expect it. If anybody says I'm looking for sympathy, they're extremely wrong and inaccurate. I have to take things in stride. If you have a bad game, you take the bad comments until the next week, when I have another normal game."

Mouse Davis, who coordinates UH's special teams, said Kelly was "overstriding" on those three kickoffs.

"Not a little, but he was going a lot low," Davis said. "A couple of times it looked like he was going to fall down. That's from trying too hard."

Unlike pro football, Kelly noted, college kickers do not have access to replay machines during games.

"I didn't know what I was doing wrong until I looked at films with Mouse (on Sunday)," Kelly said. "It was easy to see. My form was all screwed up. I was over the ball. I lost control. It forced me to swing across. I know that, and it's never going to happen again. I won't make the same mistake twice."

Until then, Kelly was on a remarkable streak in which 15 of 33 kickoffs resulted in touchbacks.

"Sometimes kickers get into a fret," Davis said. "They have to get over the fret stage to become consistent."

Kelly said he was not bothered by the kickoff preceding the three errant ones. After being entangled, a Louisiana Tech player took a swing at Kelly.

"He must have gone through some family problems," Kelly said. "He must have had some hostility built up."

UH head coach June Jones said Kelly had increased hang time on his kickoffs during yesterday's practice.

"He got distracted (by the swing), obviously, because he's been the best in the conference in kickoffs for three weeks," Jones said. "We'll use him on kickoffs and field goals this week. We know he'll do a good job."

PATEK GETS LIP SERVICE

Strong safety Jake Patek underwent a procedure to re-sew the laceration to his lip and mouth.

Patek suffered the injury when he was inadvertently kicked in the face while trying to tackle a Louisiana Tech player. After receiving 17 stitches on the inside of his mouth and lip, he returned to the game.

In the latest procedure, the doctor removed the 17 stitches. He then applied 30 new stitches.

"He lined it up so it looked nice and there will be less of a scar," Patek said.

Patek said he will play against San Jose State.