1942 Rose Bowl

1942 Rose Bowl
28th Rose Bowl Game
Aerial photo from game day of Duke Stadium, a horseshoe-shaped football venue, and the surrounding area of Duke's West Campus. The stadium is packed with fans, including the temporary extra bleachers that have been installed in the open end of the horseshoe as well as around the top rim of the stadium. There are uncountably many cars parked in lots around the stadium taking more area than the stadium itself. The main area of West Campus with Gothic Revival architecture, including Duke Chapel, as well as the basketball and baseball venues are visible, and are all surrounded by dense woods.
A packed Duke Stadium from above
1234 Total
Duke 0772 16
Oregon State 70130 20
DateJanuary 1, 1942
Season1941
StadiumDuke Stadium
LocationDurham, North Carolina
MVPDonald Durdan, Oregon State
FavoriteDuke by 14
RefereeLee Eisan (Pacific Coast;
split crew: Pacific Coast, Southern)
(original referee from Pacific Coast Conference, T.M. Fitzpatrick, was protested by Oregon State athletic director Percy Locey)
Attendance56,000 (estimated)[1]
Rose Bowl
 < 1941  1943

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.[2]

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.[3]

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.

  1. ^ Official 2007 NCAA Division I football records book – PDF copy available at NCAA.org
  2. ^ Edmonston, George Jr. – Carry Me Back – Beaver eClips – Part 24 of 30: The World War II Years (Part 1 of 2) Archived September 22, 2002, at archive.today. Oregon State University Alumni Association, November 30, 2001
  3. ^ 2008 Rose Bowl Program Archived March 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, 2008 Rose Bowl. Accessed January 26, 2008.