COLLEGE FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : ACROSS THE NATION : Michigan to Face Nemesis

These are happy days for Michigan Coach Gary Moeller. And why not? His team is ranked No. 3 in the country and appears headed for another Rose Bowl berth, maybe even a shot at the national championship.

The Wolverines, 5-0-1 overall and 3-0 in the Big Ten, are clearly the best team in a weak conference. Yet a relaxed attitude is the very thing Moeller is trying to guard against.

That’s because Michigan has been here before. And stumbled every time. That’s why the Wolverines haven’t won a national football championship since 1948.

“There is a lot of responsibility with being in the driver’s seat,” Moeller said. “The No. 1 thing is to win. Then, you’d better dominate when you have the opportunity.”

Michigan’s 31-3 victory over Indiana last week extended the Wolverines’ Big Ten winning streak to 16 games, a school record. The conference record is 17, accomplished three times by Ohio State.

The Wolverines are heavy favorites to score their 17th in a row Saturday when they play host to Minnesota (1-5, 1-2).

But twice, in 1977 and 1986, Minnesota has given Michigan its first loss. The Wolverines were 6-0 and ranked No. 1 in 1977 before losing, 16-0, and were 9-0 in 1986 before losing, 20-17.

Ohio State Coach John Cooper will keep his job through the end of the season, university President E. Gordon Gee said. The Buckeyes are 4-2 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten. Cooper, in his fifth season as coach at Ohio State, has a 31-20-2 overall record.

Clemson quarterback Louis Solomon probably will be out of action for two to three weeks because of a sprained medial collateral ligament in his knee. He suffered the injury in Clemson’s 21-6 victory over Duke on Saturday.

Solomon, the first freshman to start a game at quarterback for the Tigers since 1985, came off the bench to lead the Tigers to a come-from-behind 29-28 victory over Virginia on Oct. 10.

Richard Moncrief will start against North Carolina State on Saturday. Moncrief has started five on Clemson’s six games this season.

Virginia Coach George Welsh has banned player interviews this week in the wake of two consecutive losses. The 24th-ranked Cavaliers lost to North Carolina, 27-7, on Saturday, a week after wasting a 28-0 lead and losing to Clemson, 29-28.