In The Crimson's registration issue on Sept. 23, 1948, the paper devoted seven of 20 pages to football coverage in an attempt to indoctrinate the incoming class with an appreciation for the gridiron game.

Thereafter, throughout the season, the Crimson ran daily updates on the team, including stories on what happened in practice the previous day.

The appreciation for the football team also extended to the Radcliffe women up Garden Street once the co-ed seating change in the Harvard cheering section went into effect.

The Crimson wrote on Sept. 23, 1948: "Previously, a student wishing to bring a girl friend to the game had to turn in his season cheering section ticket and buy a pair of ducats outside the all-male section. Thus, if he brought a woman to every football game in his four college years, he would never get a better seat than the 28-yard line."

Director of the Harvard Athletic Association William J. Bingham '16 decided in favor of the change in the fall of 1947 after a Student Council poll showed a majority of the student body in favor of allowing dates in the cheering section.

In the same edition, The Crimson reported that women were allowed to witness the football team's practice sessions for the first time in at least 12 years.

"Coaches' and players' wives, mothers, and sisters are always welcome," the article said. "On designated occasions girl friends are allowed to pass beyond the fence which surrounds the two gridirons on Soldiers Field."

For a class divided between older veterans and students too young to have been drafted; Radcliffe women and Harvard men; football was a unifying force, serving as the focal point of student life.

"It was a very popular sport," Jacobsen said. "I know that Harvard is well involved with many, many types of sports, but football was the thing. It was really something and we all loved it."