The 1942 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on Thursday, January 1, 1942. It was the 28th edition of the Rose Bowl Game. Originally scheduled for the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, it was moved to Durham, North Carolina, due to fears about an attack by the Japanese on the West Coast of the United States following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The federal government prohibited large public gatherings on the West Coast for the duration of World War II; the first significant canceled event was the Rose Bowl Game scheduled for New Year's Day, 1942.Edmonston, George Jr. – Carry Me Back – Beaver eClips – Part 24 of 30: The World War II Years (Part 1 of 2) . Oregon State University Alumni Association, November 30, 2001
The Oregon State Beavers of the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) defeated the host Duke Blue Devils of the Southern Conference 20–16 in Duke Stadium (now Wallace Wade Stadium) on the Duke University campus. Donald Durdan of Oregon State was named the Player of the Game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were made retroactively.2008 Rose Bowl Program , 2008 Rose Bowl. Accessed January 26, 2008.
The 1942 game was the only Rose Bowl played outside of Pasadena until the 2021 Rose Bowl, which was moved to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas due to restrictions in California during the COVID-19 pandemic that prohibited any spectators in the stands. Rose Bowl officials moved the game to Texas due to fewer restrictions there.
Teams
Oregon State
In 1941, the Beavers football team won the Pacific Coast Conference and a berth in their first Rose Bowl. In 1940, Oregon State had finished 5–3–1 and third in the PCC, the Beavers' third consecutive third-place finish. They opened in 1941 with a last minute 13–7 loss at USC. A 9–6 win over Washington set OSC on the path to the conference championship. The Beavers next played the defending national champion and #2 Stanford Indians in California. The Indians were nicknamed the Wow Boys, because they implemented the seldom-used T-formation, forerunner to the modern football offense. Oregon State shut out Stanford, 10–0, snapping the Indians 13-game winning streak, but were shut out against eventual runner-up Washington State 7–0.
The Beavers then shut out Idaho, UCLA, California, and Montana in consecutive weekends, outscoring the four a combined 85–0. The regular season finale was the Civil War at rival Oregon, which had the Rose Bowl on the line for the Beavers, and a possible five-way tie for first place if the Oregon Ducks won;Dyer, Braven – Here's How They'll Decide Rose Bowl Team. Los Angeles Times, November 19, 1941 all five teams would have three losses. Oregon State would have the most conference wins and also the best overall record. The argument was moot as Oregon State defeated Oregon and Stanford lost at Cal, leaving the Beavers with two conference losses. The rest of the PCC had four teams with three losses and five teams with four conference losses.Pacific-10 Conference football media guide. All time standings for the 1941 season. Oregon State compiled the 7–2 record despite only scoring 20 points twice, against Idaho and Montana. The Beavers' defense only gave up 33 points all year, less than four points per game. Oregon State was led by Lon Stiner; at age 38, he became the youngest head coach in Rose Bowl history.
Duke
Pacific Coast champion Oregon State was responsible for selecting and inviting the opposing team. Top-ranked Minnesota was the first choice, but the Western Conference (today's Big Ten Conference) did not permit their teams to play in bowl games until the 1946 agreement between the Big Nine and PCC. Duke was a logical second choice, but Coach Wallace Wade had rubbed a lot of Californians the wrong way due to his antics following his 7–3 loss in the 1939 Rose Bowl. The southern California media championed Missouri or Fordham.Zimmerman, Paul – Duke to Be Oregon State's Foe in Rose Bowl. Blue Devils Accept Bid. Fordham and Missouri Believed First Choices, but Sugar Game Won. Los Angeles Times, December 1, 1941. After a long night of deliberation Oregon State College yesterday announced Duke University had been invited and accepted the bid to play the Beavers in the 27th annual Rose Bowl classic at Pasadena on New Year's Day. Oregon State responded by inviting Fordham, who they had beaten in their 1933 Ironmen year. Unknown to Oregon State, both Fordham and Missouri had received take-it-or-leave-it offers from the Sugar Bowl before their invite to the Rose Bowl, and each had accepted the offer.The Fordham Rams Football 2022 Media Guide page 48 states, "Did you know? The Rams actually received a bid to play in the Rose Bowl and turned it down. After the last game of a very successful 1941 season, Fordham Coach Jim Crowley informed the team that they had received a bid to play in the Grand-daddy of all bowls. The players all cheered until they learned that if they accepted the bid, the game would be played in New York City and not on the West Coast for fear of Japanese bombing. The team opted to take a bid from the Sugar Bowl instead." This may not be correct in that the bowl bids were accepted by December 1, before the December 7 bombing of Pearl Harbor. Unable to invite their three first choices, the Beavers settled on second-ranked and undefeated Duke, much to the chagrin of Southern California, which was announced on December 1, 1941.Oregon State, Duke to Play in Rose Bowl Missouri and Fordham New Orleans Opponents; Wade Team Here Before. Los Angeles Times, December 1, 1941.Dyer, Braven – Duke Selection Big Surprise. Scribe Recalls Wade's Last Visit to Annual New Year's Classic. Los Angeles Times, December 2, 1941. Duke's defense had not allowed more than 14 points all year. The Blue Devils were averaging a 30-point victory every time they took the field. In each game, the Blue Devils won by at least 13 points. The Blue Devils were on an 11-game winning streak, having gone since their 1939 Rose Bowl defeat.
Venue change to Durham, North Carolina With the United States' entry into World War II following the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941, there was concern about a Japanese attack on the West Coast of the United States. Much discussion focused on the possibility of an attack where any crowds might gather. The Rose Parade and its estimated one million spectators, as well as the Rose Bowl with 90,000 spectators, were presumed to be ideal targets for the Japanese. On December 14, Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt, commander of the Western Defense Command, recommended that the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl festivities be canceled."ROSE BOWL GAME CALLED OFF", San Antonio Light, December 14, 1941, pB-1Zimmerman, Paul – Rose Tourney May Be Off – Olson Relays 4th Army Commander's Request to Cancel Parade and Game in Interest of Defense and Civilian Protection. Los Angeles Times December 14, 1941. Quote: "Pasadena's Tournament of Roses executive committee met in hasty session last night to take action on a suggestion forwarded by Governor Olson from Lieut. Gen. John L. DeWitt, commander of the 4th Army" By December 15, the Tournament of Roses committee decided to cancel the parade and game.Forbidding Crowds. Los Angeles Times, December 16, 1941. Page A4. Quote: "Cancellation of the Tournament of Roses parade and transfer of the Oregon StateDuke Rose Bowl football game to Durham, N.C., the home of Duke, although disappointing to many, is undoubtedly justified by military caution. An event that packs 1,000,000 persons into limited confines within a single community"Tournament of Roses and Bowl Game Off – Danger of Permitting Large Gatherings and Clogged Roads in Wartime Stressed. Los Angeles Times, December 15, 1941. Quote: "Pasadena's celebrated New Year's Day spectacles—the Rose Bowl football game and the Tournament of Roses Parade—were officially called off late yesterday after a meeting between committee members and Lieut. Gen. John L. DeWitt,"Zimmerman, Paul – Duke Likely to Play Beavers in Durham. Blue Devils Invite Foes Rose Bowl, Shrine Grid Games Halted as Other Sports Events in Balance. Los Angeles Times, December 15, 1941. Soon afterward, the government banned all large gatherings on the West Coast. This ruled out Bell Field, Oregon State's on-campus venue, as an alternative site for the game.Walker, J. Samuel ACC Basketball: The Story of the rivalries, traditions, and scandals of the first two decades of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Raleigh, NC: University of North Carolina Press. 2011, p. 48.
On December 16, Duke University invited the game and Oregon State to Duke's home stadium in Durham, North Carolina.Zimmerman, Paul – Scene of Rose Bowl Shifted to Durham, N.C. Los Angeles Times, December 16, 1941. Perpetuation of the annual Rose Bowl intersectional football, classic was assured yesterday when the Tournament of Roses officials and Oregon State College accepted the hospitality of Duke University.
At the time, Duke Stadium was the second-largest in the South but its seating capacity was just 35,000. In order to accommodate the larger crowd expected for the Rose Bowl, bleachers were brought in from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Kenan Stadium and North Carolina State University's Riddick Stadium to seat an additional 20,000 people. All 56,000 tickets sold out to the game in three days. Bing Crosby reportedly bought 271 tickets. It is unclear whether Crosby attended the game. Although Duke generally reserved a small segregated block of tickets for African-Americans, Duke initially decided to not allow African-Americans to attend. After an article in Durham's African-American newspaper, the Carolina Times, claimed that Duke would sell tickets to Japanese-Americans but not African-Americans, Duke reversed its decision and, despite the game already having officially sold out, released 140 tickets to African-American fans.
Oregon State's Beaver Express train left Corvallis with 31 players on December 19, just three days after Duke University invited Oregon State. Standing on the platform in Corvallis was Chiaki "Jack" Yoshihara. Yoshihara had immigrated to the United States of America at the age of three on the last ship allowed into the United States before the United States put a moratorium on Japanese immigration. By executive order, no Japanese-Americans were permitted to go more than from their homes. Multiple FBI agents informed Oregon State coach, Lon Stiner that no exception would be made for Yoshihara. Teammates, students, the acting Oregon State president, and the campus ROTC commandant protested the decision to no avail. Yoshihara, the Beavers' 32nd player, watched the Beaver Express leave Corvallis from the platform without him on it.
In Omaha, Nebraska, members of the University of Nebraska's N Club gave Stiner a good luck horseshoe. Three days after leaving Corvallis, the Beaver Express arrived in Chicago on December 22. The University of Chicago had dropped its football program after the 1939 season, so Oregon State used their Stagg Field. The train with the Beavers' equipment and uniforms did not arrive by practice time, so Oregon State players wore maroon warmups borrowed from the University of Chicago during kicking and passing drills. The equipment and uniform train arrived just in time for Martin Chaves, Bob Dethman, Donald Durdan, and Joe Day to dress in full pads for press pictures.
Oregon State left Chicago on December 22, and on the way to Durham, they stopped in Washington, D.C. for practice at Griffith Stadium, home of the Washington Redskins and Senators, and a tour of the nation's capital. The Beaver Express finally arrived in Durham on December 24, five days after leaving Corvallis.