His football career hasn't gone exactly the way he planned, but Tyler Sands has no second thoughts about which school he chose to attend.

"While everybody wants to be a starter, it hasn't worked out for me so far," Sands said. "But there are other ways I can contribute. I love college football. I've never regretted my decision to come here to Illinois."

That's because just about everything else has worked out for Sands, the former Boyertown standout.

At Illinois, he received his bachelor's degree in psychology in May and is pursuing his master's degree in advertising. He's coming off back-to-back semesters in which he posted 4.0 grade-point averages and has twice been named to the Academic All-Big Ten team.

And he met his fiancée, Erin Knapp, who he plans to marry next October.

"I really like it out here," Sands said. "I have a lot of great friends here. After five years you pretty much become one of the people around here. I'll probably end up staying out here in the Midwest because it's kind of where I've put roots down."

Sands is the No. 2 right guard for the Fighting Illini (2-2), who face Penn State (2-2) in a Big Ten opener Saturday (noon, TV-ESPN) at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

He started one game as a redshirt freshman in 2009 against Purdue and one game last year against Northwestern. Several things have kept him from becoming a full-time starter.

"Everybody comes into college football expecting to be the guy who starts or the guy who makes an impact," Sands said. "Things haven't always fallen my way, whether it's injuries or coaching changes. I don't let that get me down. I still come out and work every day and try to earn every minute I can."

He clearly works hard in the classroom. He had enough credits to receive his undergraduate degree in 3½ years, but he pushed it back a semester in order to remain eligible for his scholarship until his graduate program began.

Sands said his psychology studies will help him in the advertising field, where he plans to work one day.

"Advertising is something that's always interested me," he said. "It takes a lot of theories and a lot of ideas from psychology so I can apply what I've learned in both fields in the business world."

In football, Sands played in every game last season and has played in two of the four games this season. He's playing behind Ted Karras, whose great uncle, Alex, was a four-time Pro Bowl pick for the Detroit Lions and who might be better known as an actor.

"Coming into this season I wanted to be a starter," Sands said. "Some guys stepped up. Some guys have been playing well. There are things I can't do as well athletically as other people. There a bunch of things that went into it."

Sands can do a lot when it comes to his studies. Although he was an Academic All-Berks selection, he said he's a much better student now than he was in high school.

"In high school things came naturally so I didn't try very hard," he said. "I never really studied. When you get to college, especially now that I'm in grad school, you learn how to read, how to take tests, how to write papers. You learn what people are looking for.

"You learn how to put the time in and manage your time."

Time is running out on Sands' playing career. His mother, Dawne von Czoernig, a teacher in the Boyertown School District, and her husband traveled to see Illinois' game last week. His father, Jeff Sands, and his wife, who live in Florida, are going to Saturday's game.

He has only a handful of games left. No matter what happens, he'll walk away with good feelings about Illinois.

"I've been lucky to receive many things from this scholarship that are outside football," Sands said. "I'm more than excited about everything I get on the field. But I also have to look at the things off the field that I've been gifted with and that I'll use the rest of my life.

"Football is going to end some day for everybody, so you have to set yourself up for the rest of your life. I've been very blessed to take care of that."