Hall of Fame
The 1948 football team finished the season with a 7-2 record with wins over Fordham, Bucknell, George Washington, Washington and Jefferson, Muhlenberg, Ohio Wesleyan and Lehigh and losses only to No. 6 Army and Rutgers. The team averaged 260.2 rushing yards per game, among the leaders in the East, led by Maroon Club Hall of Fame inductee Frank Downing '51 who was the quarterback.
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More notably, the team was invited to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. The College rejected the invitation, however, after the Sun Bowl committee's decision to exclude David Showell '51 from the game because of his race, and the segregation laws in Texas. Showell, who played on offense and defense, later served his country in World War II with the Tuskegee Airmen. The Greatest Game Never Played (as it was later referred to in a song) helped raise awareness of exclusion of African American players in college football bowl games based on their race.
