There's one common thread between this year's Illinois football team and the school's last two Rose Bowl teams:

All three teams had a Butkus in the starting lineup.

The tradition started with legendary Dick Butkus at linebacker in 1963. It continued with Dick's nephew, Mark, at defensive tackle in 1983.

The tradition has continued with another of Dick's nephews, Luke, a senior who is entering his third season as Illinois' center.

His father, Ron -- the fifth of nine children (Dick was the youngest) -- played briefly at Illinois in the '50s.

Even though Luke needs to be more disciplined as an offensive lineman, Illinois coach Ron Turner sees that same nasty streak for which Dick Butkus was famous.

"You can't run around and play quite as reckless on offense, but Luke gets after it," Turner said. "He likes to compete hard. He has the mentality you want in an offensive lineman."

Illinois is touting Butkus, who earned All-Big Ten honorable mention in 2000, for bigger postseason accolades this season. Illinois' offensive line should be among the best in the conference, which will help those efforts.

For Luke, the twin incentives are erasing memories of last year's disappointing 5-6 season and making the most of his final college campaign.

"I'm so glad I have this year left," he said.

At the top of Luke's to-do list is following in the footsteps of Uncle Dick and cousin Mark by helping Illinois return to the Rose Bowl. While that might seem like a tall order, Luke thinks the Illini will shake off the letdown of 2000.

"We can bounce back," he said. "I could feel it from the fight we showed in spring practice. Last year, we lost three games by 11 points? It stung.

"That gives us more drive for this year. We're not going to make the mental mistakes we did in those games. We can taste it. We want to get there."

Spoken like a Butkus.

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