Pregame fever reached the near-boiling point last night as 1500 vociferous Crimson followers all but tore down the doors of the Indoor Athletic Building in the season's first grid rally. Head-cheerleader Gerry Spear called the torchlight rally "one of the biggest in University history."

It all startd at 7:30 o'clock in front of Old Jawn. Led by the band, 24 torch-carriers, a Crimson bedecked Great Dane, and a vintage 1920 Buick, owned by Bill Currier '50, of Wigglesworth Hall, the procession wound through the Yard, across Massachusetts Avenue and down Holyoke Street. At the Bow Street triangle, the first casualty of the night, Dutch-tile fancier Clemens P. Woop '00, was seen limping into his sanctuary.

"Beat B.U.!"

Swinging into a rythmic "Beat B.U.!" chant, the marchers moved past Leverett House to Memorial Drive, engulfing unsuspecting bystanders and traffic. Outside Weld Boathouse, as the cheering mob swept northward toward the Square, the first of two attempts by B.U. hecklers to start a riot by overturning cars, was scotched by Sgt. James Twomey, of the University Police.

Several dozen exploded-blank cartridges later, the rally jammed around the steps of the Athletic Building, where Dick Harlow, Captain Vince Moravec, & Co., called for solid vocal support for this afternoon's game.