SURVEY SAYS ...

Each day during Camp Rantoul, we ran survey answers from the Illinois football players. Today's guests:

LINEBACKER JONATHAN BROWN

You are in the Leaders Division. Give us a better name. Big Ten Champions

Is President Obama getting re-elected? He should

Which of your teammates can sing? Ian Thomas

What is your all-time favorite horror movie? "A Nightmare on Elm Street"

Did the U.S. women's team make you a soccer fan? Somewhat

Favorite food during training camp? Lobster

Is golf a sport? It's a hobby

You can have any kind of pet, what's it going to be? Tiger

Preferred practice time: 7 a.m. or 3 p.m.? 7 a.m.

Nickname you would like people to start calling you? Bad News

Place in the world you most want to visit? Cairo

Other than your girlfriend, who will be cool if you answer this, who is your dream date? Alicia Keys

RECEIVER DARIUS MILLINES

You are in the Leaders Division. Give us a better name. Illini Division

What celebrity do people say you look like? Pooch Hall ("Derwin Davis" from "The Game")

Is President Obama getting re-elected? I don't see why not

Which of your teammates can sing? Ian Thomas

What is your all-time favorite horror movie? "Candyman"

Did the U.S. women's team make you a soccer fan? No

Favorite food during training camp? Steak

Is golf a sport? Sometimes

You can have any kind of pet, what's it going to be? Iguana

Preferred practice time: 7 a.m. or 3 p.m.? 7 a.m.

Nickname you would like people to start calling you? D-Train

Place in the world you most want to visit? Las Vegas

Other than your girlfriend, who will be cool if you answer this, who is your dream date? Kelly Rowland

OFFENSIVE TACKLE JEFF ALLEN

You are in the Leaders Division. Give us a better name. Big Ten South

What celebrity do people say you look like? Anthony Anderson

Is President Obama getting re-elected? No comment

Which of your teammates can sing? Ian Thomas

What is your all-time favorite horror movie? "Insidious"

Did the U.S. women's team make you a soccer fan? Yes

Favorite food during training camp? Ice cream

Is golf a sport? Yes

You can have any kind of pet, what's it going to be? Snake

Preferred practice time: 7 a.m. or 3 p.m.? 7 a.m.

Nickname you would like people to start calling you? Swag

Place in the world you most want to visit? Rantoul

Other than your girlfriend, who will be cool if you answer this, who is your dream date? Beyonce

PUNTER JUSTIN DuVERNOIS

You are in the Leaders Division. Give us a better name. Legends

What celebrity do people say you look like? Brad Pitt

Is President Obama getting re-elected? No

Which of your teammates can sing? Ian Thomas

What is your all-time favorite horror movie? "Insidious"

Did the U.S. women's team make you a soccer fan? No

Favorite food during training camp? Steak

Is golf a sport? Yes

You can have any kind of pet, what's it going to be? Tiger

Preferred practice time: 7 a.m. or 3 p.m.? 3 p.m.

Nickname you would like people to start calling you? JD

Place in the world you most want to visit? Sydney, Australia

Other than your girlfriend, who will be cool if you answer this, who is your dream date? Taylor Swift

BOB'S BALLOT

Bob Asmussen is a voting member of the Associated Press Top 25. Here is his preseason ballot:

RANK TEAM CONFERENCE

1. Oklahoma Big 12

2. Alabama SEC

3. Wisconsin Big Ten

4. Boise State Mountain West

5. LSU SEC

6. Oregon Pac-12

7. Virginia Tech ACC

8. Texas A&M Big 12

9. Florida State ACC

10. Nebraska Big Ten

11. Oklahoma State Big 12

12. Arkansas SEC

13. TCU Mountain West

14. South Carolina SEC

15. Notre Dame Independent

16. Michigan State Big Ten

17. Stanford Pac-12

18. Ohio State Big Ten

19. West Virginia Big East

20. Iowa Big Ten

21. Auburn SEC

22. Southern Cal Pac-12

23. Miami ACC

24. Southern Miss Conference USA

25. Missouri Big 12

BOB'S POLL THOUGHTS

Hard to argue against any of the five schools that got first-place votes. They could all win the national title. So could about 10 others teams. At least. No surprise, the SEC is over-represented with eight schools (nine if you count Texas A&M). The state of Illinois got a combined five points from two voters. The Winston-Salem Journal's Bill Cole has the Wildcats at No. 25 and the Minneapolis Star Tribune's Phil Miller has Northern Illinois at No. 22. To get on The N-G's ballot, Illinois needs to start 3-0. And that still might not do it depending on what else is going in college football. Stay tuned.

CAMP RANTOUL MVPs

Some were expected. Some were a bit of a surprise. But the following five Illinois players proved during Camp Rantoul they are going to be invaluable members to the team in 2011 and beyond.

1. Nathan Scheelhaase, quarterback Perhaps you've heard of him. He's on course to break every record in the book. And the best part about him: The only record he cares about is the one for most wins by a quarterback. Really.

2. Tavon Wilson, cornerback Unselfishly, he moved to safety last season and shined. Now, he goes back to cornerback as a senior. Tireless D.C. product won't leave the field much and should put up big numbers for picks, tackles and PBUs.

3. Darius Millines, receiver Every time you ask Paul Petrino about his group, Millines is the first one mentioned. Slowed by an injury in the spring, he has made up for lost time. Best part of his game comes after the catch.

4. Donovonn Young, tailback He wowed them from the beginning, going back to the summer. He won't make people forget about Mikel Leshoure or Rashard Mendenhall, but he looks like a guy who can add to the legacy of No. 5. He's made Jason Ford better, too.

5. Ralph Cooper, linebacker Jonathan Brown and Ian Thomas could be on this list, too. Depth was a concern at linebacker going into training camp, and the freshman has helped alleviate some of those concerns. He'll have a Brown-like impact as a freshman.

IN THE NEWS

CRASH COURSE

The players found out Saturday that RON ZOOK can take a licking and keep on ticking.

During individual drills, Zook was checking out a hole in the middle of the field. Meanwhile, NATHAN SCHEELHAASE was throwing a pass to freshman tight end JON DAVIS, who plowed into the unsuspecting coach.

"I just went over and asked Jon if he was all right," Zook said. "That scared me a little bit. I didn't want to hurt him."

With the recent sideline injury to Penn State's JOE PATERNO, contact between players and coaches is no laughing matter. But Zook jumped up immediately and didn't get run over again the remainder of the practice.

"You don't usually see me in the middle of a drill like that," Zook said.

Illinois offensive coordinator PAUL PETRINO saw the play.

"That's a bad job by the quarterback," Petrino said. "He shouldn't have thrown it."

Scheelhaase said he didn't see Zook before making the throw.

"That was me," Scheelhaase said. "Coach (JEFF) BROHM was the one who saw it coming. I threw it and I heard him saying, 'Watch out, watch out, watch out.' Coach Zook hopped up faster than any player has hopped all camp. That was good to see."

On the final day of Camp Rantoul, the team went longer than expected during Saturday's scrimmage.

"The thing we take out of this is you've got to be ready to play every day," Zook said. "There's a very thin line between playing the way you want to play and not.

"I think we had 18 great practices. The thing you didn't see today maybe was the energy. A lot of reasons for that. No. 1, they're worn out. No. 2, I think they've got one eye on Champaign. We got out healthy."

Zook said the hard practices helped to avoid major injuries.

"Usually, when you try to keep from getting hurt or you try to take things easy that's when bad things happen," Zook said. "Even in the spring, they were getting after each other."

HAPPY FACE

The headsets weren't working. But almost everything else did for the offense during Saturday's scrimmage.

The receivers caught well-thrown passes. The running backs found holes. The backups limited their mistakes while making a fair share of plays.

The offense will be able to throw the ball better this season, second-year offensive coordinator Petrino said.

Three receivers — DARIUS MILLINES, RYAN LANKFORD and SPENCER HARRIS — have improved enough that leading returning receiver A.J. JENKINS has work to do to guarantee a bunch of passes will go his way.

"I don't know if I would say he's ahead of everybody," Petrino said. "Darius Millines right now is probably playing better than he is. I told A.J. that (Friday). I told him, 'If you want to get the most balls, you better start playing better than Darius.' Last year, he was head and shoulders above everybody else. Right now, he has to battle to be above those guys."

Freshman tight ends JON DAVIS and MATT LaCOSSE have a chance to play early. Blocking and knowing the offense continue to be the areas where they need the most work.

EARNING TIME

The decisions on which freshmen will play are still being made. But it's obvious to all who watched Camp Rantoul that running backs DONOVONN YOUNG and JOSH FERGUSON will be on the field early.

"Both of them have had a great camp, and both are very athletic guys," Zook said. "It's going to be important this week to see how they handle school. When they have one thing to think about, they've done a great job."

Petrino has both in mind for the opener against Arkansas State.

"They're Playmaking Jesse's," Petrino said. "They can run and cut. They'll be playing."

What's a Playmaking Jesse?

"It's an old term," Petrino said. "They're just good football players."

WORK IN PROGRESS

Petrino said no decision has been made on the backup quarterback between MILES OSEI and REILLY O'TOOLE, who both played well Saturday.

"That's still a battle," Petrino said.

If Scheelhaase was to miss a game with the flu, Petrino has a plan.

"Both Reilly and Miles would play," Petrino said. "You would use them both."

DIFFICULT DAY

Illinois defensive coordinator VIC KOENNING summed up the performance with "some good, some not so good."

He talked first about the "not so good." The second-team offense moved the ball down the field against the first-team defense. Without any trickeration.

"We just kept missing tackles and didn't do a good job," Koenning said. "Miles (Osei) did a good job, and they drove it down the field running basically one play.

"That's going to be good for us to coach that. We didn't do as good in the third-and-long segment as we need to. Our offense is pretty tough to stop right there on the goal line."

Give a lot of the credit to the offense, Koenning said, starting with tailback JASON FORD.

"I hope he's as good as we made him look today," Koenning said. "We've got a lot of tackling we've got to improve on. Hopefully, we won't go against too many guys like him."

The second-team defense did a solid job against the first-team offense, getting stops and putting pressure on the quarterbacks.

There was some falloff later in the scrimmage.

"It looked like we got really tired the second half of it," Koenning said. "We just looked like we were physically drained.

"We can't have that ever happen."

READY TO RUN

Though MIKEL LESHOURE has gone to the NFL, the Illinois offensive linemen think they will be able to run. A lot.

"Jason (Ford) has a lot of experience and he's definitely a great back," starting guard HUGH THORNTON said. "He runs hard. When you say he 'runs like Jason Ford,' people know what you mean."

Of course, the guys up front deserve some credit.

"With the experience we have back, I think the running game has the potential to be as good as last year. Or even better," Thornton said. "As an offensive line, we love to run the ball. That's where we get the glory. It's a fun thing to do."

EARLY RISERS

The team begins morning practices Monday. Zook said he is awaiting all of the players' class schedules before determining the times.

"We'll get up in the morning and go man go," Zook said.

The players like the idea.

"I think it will help," Scheelhaase said. "You're thinking about exactly what you have to do in practice before you worry about classes. All of the guys are looking forward to it."