Rose Bowl
1942
Oregon State 20
Duke 16
"Sunday used to be a day of rest and quiet" lamented The Duke
Chronicle on December 9, 1941. That sentiment was stated because the
campus mood swung widely as the month unfolded. Two Sunday's previously,
the announcement of Oregon State's invitation to Duke to play in the
Rose Bowl had set off one of the wildest celebrations in Duke history.
In anticipation, Duke students were crowded around every teletype
machine in town. Upon confirmation of the acceptance, one long
continuous parade of cars circled Main Street between the campus and the
Court House. The celebration over Duke's second Rose Bowl appearance in
four years was only slightly diminished when the women had to return to
their dorms at their 11:00 p.m. curfew. The most frequently wired
Western Union message was "Send Pasadena money" when a repeat of the
popular 1939 "Blue Devil Special" with round-trip railroad, pullman
accommodations, including a side trip to the Grand Canyon, hotel fare,
and game ticket was publicized for only $181.81.
Sunday evening, December 7, found many of the same students at the same
teletype machines in a much more somber mood. Students had rushed
downtown when Durham's Herald-Sun Extra Edition proclaiming "Hitler's
War Explodes In World Conflict As Japanese Attack U. S." appeared on
campus. Then the most frequent questions were "Where is Pearl Harbor?"
and "What is the status of the draft legislation under review in
Washington?"
The Chronicle writer further commented that he hoped the next Sunday
would not bring the announcement that Pasadena was bombed. His
premonition was close because fearing just such an eventuality, the next
Sunday's news announced the canceling of the Rose Bowl game. Military
authorities ordered Earl Warren, then governor of California, to cancel
the Pasadena parade and game for security reasons. Fearing further
attacks, they didn't want large crowds congregating anywhere on the West
Coast.
Arch Ward, sports editor of the Chicago Tribune and the man who eight
years earlier invented baseball's All-Star game, offered Soldier Field,
a sort of neutral site in the middle of the country that would seat
120,000 and organizers first considered moving the game to Chicago.
However, Duke University's offer to host the game was accepted setting
off another celebration, although a decidedly quieter one. The
overriding concern was how to get ready for such a unique event in just
eighteen days.
Not everyone was elated over the dramatic turn of events. The football
team was disappointed over the loss of their trip to glamorous
California. With war declared, many members were not at all pleased at
the prospect of Christmas being spent away from family in preparation
for a game in Durham. At first, they voted against playing, but Wade
appeased them by letting them go home for the holiday. The compromise
had its consequences in the game.
The transplanted Rose Bowl game was played in Durham on January 1, 25
days after Pearl Harbor (video). Borrowed
bleachers from the University of North Carolina and NC State boosted
stadium capacity from 35,000 to 55,000 spectators. A flood of East Coast
sportswriters descended upon Durham for their first Rose Bowl while only
a single writer came from southern California. They reported in detail
the events leading up to the game, and the rainy day when 56,000 fans
packed Duke Stadium expecting an easy Blue Devils' victory.
Oregon State was a surprise participant. Picked to finish near the
bottom of the Pacific Coast Conference in 1941, it lost two games early
but won the title when Stanford and other contenders stumbled late in
the year. As was the custom, the Pacific Coast champ picked its Rose
Bowl opponent and the Beavers invited Duke. The undefeated Blue Devils
were picked as 3-1 favorites. Oregon State came East to the wonderment
of most of Dixie as to why the Westerners were going to show up at all.
The inclement weather worked against the home team, which relied on
speed for its wide-open, single-wing offense directed by quarterback
Tommy Prothro (who later coached the NFL San Diego Chargers and Los
Angeles Rams). "I've never seen so much rain in all my life," Duke's
Smith said. He never lived in Oregon. "A misty day," is how Beavers'
back Gray described it.
The weather slowed Duke's single-wing attack operated by quarterback
Tommy Prothro, later an NFL coach. The visitors never noticed the
weather. With the score tied at 7-7 in the third quarter, the game
turned on three touchdowns scored in just over two minutes, two of them
by Oregon State. Gray was an integral figure in both of his team's
scores. First, he raced 24 yards from his own 45 to Duke's 31, putting
Oregon State in position for the go-ahead score. After Duke came right
back to tie the game, Gray struck again, this time hooking up with Bob
Dethman on a 68-yard TD. It was the winning score in Oregon State's
20-16 victory that spoiled Duke's undefeated season. "It was one of our
regular pass plays," Gray said. "The halfback goes out in the flat. If
the defensive back comes up, you turn downfield. He came up. I turned
and stopped. He went right by. "The pass was 30 yards. I ran the rest of
the way." At the time, it broke the record for the longest pass in the
Rose Bowl.
For Oregon State, the star was Dan Durdan, who passed and ran Oregon
State College to victory. He was awarded Player of the Game honors and
later inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame, despite the fact he
gained only 54 yards and averaged "only" 44.4 yards with eight punts.
Steve Lach gained 129 yards on 11 carries for Duke and averaged 47.3
yards with eight punts. Tommy Prothro also played magnificently. In one
of the ironies in the annals of college football, Prothro would
one day become Oregon State head coach and take the Beavers to, not one,
but two Rose Bowls. The football practice field at OSU bears his name.
The sloppy field conditions worked against Duke, but Wade ultimately
blamed himself for spending too much time on details of hosting the
event and not enough on game preparation. His players felt the
uncertainty of their future was as much a factor. "We were just not
ready to play, emotionally and mentally," Duke captain Bob Barnett said.
"We had too much on our minds."
Beaver boss Lon Stiner, at 38 and the youngest head coach in Rose Bowl
history, had prepared his team with a passing attack that dazzled the
North Carolinians. Jack Gunether of UPI wrote, “The Beavers skipped and
slammed and flicked passes with an ease and finesse which completely
baffled the record crowd."
Duke and Oregon State went their separate ways on the evening of Jan. 1,
1942, but they are
forever linked by history and ironic twists of fate
that followed several players off to war. Most of the 80 or so players
who suited up for the game wore the uniform of the U.S. military before
World War II ended. Some joined the service within weeks of Oregon
State's upset victory; others completed their education and enlisted
within two years.
"We all knew we were going to be involved," Oregon State back Bill
McInnis said. What no one could foresee was the series of coincidences
that awaited them.
-Duke reserve quarterback Charlie Haynes was rescued by Beavers' guard
Frank Parker after being gravely wounded at the front in Italy.
-Oregon State back Gene Gray caught the winning touchdown pass but lost
both his arms when his military jet crashed after the war.
-Wade, the Duke coach for whom the stadium is now named, accepted a meal
and hot coffee from Oregon State tackle Stan Czech during the Battle of
the Bulge.
-Duke end Jim Smith, assigned to a Naval destroyer escort in the
Atlantic, walked into a bar in Panama and was recognized by a Marine who
had played against him in the game. Smith later served on the U.S.S.
Bright, which was hit by a Japanese kamikaze in Okinawa.
-One Oregon State player and three members of the Duke squad were killed
in the war.
-Duke sophomore back Walter Griffith enlisted in the Marine Corps
shortly after the game and was killed in the Pacific arena 11 months
later.
-Everett Smith, a reserve back for Oregon State, drowned during an
amphibious landing in the South Pacific.
-Running back Al Hoover, who earned his commission after completing an
officer candidate program at Duke, was one of 1,300 Marines who died in
the Battle of Peleliu Island in September, 1944. He smothered a Japanese
hand grenade to save those around him.
-Duke star tackle Bob Nanni, a Marine sergeant, was killed in action on
Iwo Jima in March, 1945.
Game action
The Stadium in Durham
Gene Gray scores winning 68 yard touchdown reception
Pages commemorating Don Durdan's accomplishments for OSU yearbook, The Beaver
Attendance: 56,000
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
OSC- Durdan 15 run (Simas kick)
Second Quarter
DUKE- Lach 3 run (Gantt kick)
Third Quarter
OSC- Zellick 31 pass from Dethman (Simas kick)
DUKE- Siegfried 1 run (Prothro kick)
OSC- Gray 68 pass from Dethman (kick failed)
Fourth Quarter
DUKE- Safety, Durdan tackled in end zone by Karmazin
