Dennis Stallings can''t go to Houston yet.

   So the Oilers will come to him.

   O''Neill Gilbert''s back in town today to personally drop off a playbook and some advice:

   Dennis Stallings knows what his next move will be.

   His former University of Illinois teammates aren''t as certain.

   Stallings was the lone Illini picked in the National Football League''s weekend draft, the Houston Oilers taking the inside linebacker in the sixth round (No. 181 overall).

   CHAMPAIGN  The Illinois defenders weren''t quite sure how to act. Or what kind of expression to wear.

   They couldn''t help but be happy after Saturday''s 50-0 romp against the Illini offense in the annual spring game. It was a dream game for players who rarely score points.

CHAMPAIGN – In practice, Robert Holcombe's always lending Nehemiah Minor a hand. Telling him what holes to hit, what linebackers to avoid, what routes to run.

On Saturday morning, Holcombe did Minor his biggest favor yet. He sat out the UI's spring football game, allowing the redshirt freshman running back from Detroit to break a sweat.

   Can''t sugar-coat this one. Can''t slide over the shortcomings.

   Place your thumb and forefinger on each side of your nose, crinkle your nose, close your eyes and let it go:

   "Peuwwww."

CHAMPAIGN – When the college football magazines hit the newsstands in a couple months, the guess is they won't be too kind to the Illinois defensive line.

The nice ones will use words such as "youthful" and "undersized." The mean ones will get more to the point, calling the position a "mess," "weakness" or "reason for concern."

Helms, new running backs boss, knows where his bread is buttered.

His master plan in advancing the football is to get it in the strong hands of Holcombe as many ways as possible.

CHAMPAIGN – When he first met with his Illinois football team, coach Ron Turner told the players he wanted a total commitment. Marquis Mosely wasn’t able to give it to him.

“He’s got other interests, other things on his mind,” Turner said. “I could kind of see it. I could see his focus wasn’t 100 percent on football.”