Joe Lauzen knows his future. In six weeks, he'll be a University of Illinois graduate working in his Dad's accounting firm. It's a lock.

But Lauzen doesn't know his present. And he doesn't care.

Today is Lauzen's final home game at Illinois. The senior defensive tackle has no guarantees that he'll get in the game.

Lauzen has one tackle this season. And it took him nine games to get it, pulling down a Penn State runner last Saturday.

Lauzen played nine games in '97 and had 17 tackles. After a long summer of working out, he expected to be a key reserve on the defensive line. It didn't happen. He missed the first month of the season after being diagnosed with mononucleosis and dropped on the depth chart.

"I couldn't do anything," Lauzen said. "It's disheartening for me to end like this."

Lauzen feels healthy now. But he hasn't been able to put on the 20 pounds he lost in September. And his strength isn't what it once was.

Eleven seniors are scheduled to make their final run onto the Memorial Stadium field today. Nine of the others figure to play plenty. J.P. Machado, Ryan Schau and Tom Schau start on the offensive line. Garrett Johnson plays in front of Lauzen at defensive tackle. Rob Majoy is starting at receiver, and George McDonald-Ashford is a top backup. Jeff Weisse and Ryan Murphy are part of the five-player rotation at defensive end.

Only Lauzen and quarterback Mark Hoekstra will be waiting for a late-game call. Hoekstra is buried on depth chart behind freshman Kurt Kittner and junior Kirk Johnson.

"The most important thing is to get a win," Lauzen said. "It's as simple as that."

Ask Lauzen for his dream finale and he won't give you the usual "game-saving sack."

"For us to play to our full potential," Lauzen said. "We've come so close in each segment of the team. If we play up to our ability, I think we can win the game. I'd like to look on it more on a team basis."

Mr. Smarty

Lauzen doesn't need to be a backup defensive lineman at Illinois.

An offensive lineman at Appleton (Wis.) West, Lauzen played on teams that made the state finals three consecutive years. He has scholarship offers from a bunch of Division II schools. Others in the Big Ten wanted him to walk on. Harvard and Yale liked him as a student and athlete. He was accepted to both schools but never really considered them.

"I'm a Midwest fan," Lauzen said. "I like the weather. I like the people. This is where I plan on living when I graduate."

Illinois' reputation as the nation's best accounting school made it an easy choice.

"School's gone real well," said Lauzen, who graduates in December.

He won't wait long to go to work for Dad's Naperville accounting firm. The company does tax work for small businesses. Lauzen plans to be helping before Christmas.

"I basically had a job since I can remember," Lauzen said.

Not that he took it easy in school or on the field.

"I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well," Lauzen said. "You never can count on those things."

Plugging away

Lauzen wanted to keep playing football. He was part of a strong walk-on class that included current starters Machado and Tom Schau.

"Coming in as a walk-on, you know it's going to be a long road," Lauzen said. "I always had confidence in what I could do. It was just a matter of getting myself in the shape I needed to be in to contribute to the team."

At the start of Lauzen's career, Lou Tepper was head coach. He stayed with the team after Ron Turner took over.

Lauzen likes the attitude of the young players Turner has recruited.

"He's a great coach," Lauzen said. "He's got the program going in the right direction. You can definitely see improvement over last year."

Even with the loss of Garrett Johnson, Lauzen said the defensive tackle spots are covered. Mike McGee, Seth Tesdall and Karleton Thomas will be seniors next season. Freshman Brandon Moore started against Penn State.

"They've definitely got some good young guys," Lauzen said.

Bob Asmussen is a News-Gazette staff writer. His column on college football appears Saturdays throughout the season.