1942 Rose Bowl - Aftermath

Aftermath

Donald Durdan, who showed his all-around skill by rushing for 54 yards and a touchdown, passing, and punting, was named the game's most valuable player. This remains the only Beavers' Rose Bowl victory. It also remains the only time the two programs have played each other.

Although many others argue that Columbia's 1934 victory over Stanford was bigger, Sid Feder of the Associated Press labeled it the biggest upset in the Rose Bowl's early history.

After the 1942 Allied victory in the Battle of Midway and the end of the Japanese offensives in the Pacific Theater during 1942, it was deemed that the West Coast was no longer vulnerable to attack, and the Rose Bowl game continued on in the Rose Bowl Stadium.

Most of the players would don military uniforms during World War II. Wallace Wade enlisted after the game ended and encouraged his players to follow suit. Both teams lost halfbacks in the Pacific Theater in 1942, Walter Griffith of Duke and Everett Smith of Oregon State.

After war was declared, Oregon State's star freshman end, Chiaki Yoshihara, was not allowed to travel more than 35 miles from his home in Oregon, precluding him from playing in the Rose Bowl. He would spend most of 1942 in an internment camp in Idaho.

Tommy Prothro, who would go on to coach both Oregon State and UCLA in the Rose Bowl, played quarterback for the Blue Devils.

Tommy Prothro's backup, Charlie Haynes, and Oregon State tackle, Frank Parker, were rifle platoon leaders in different companies, sailing from Africa to Italy in 1944, when the two recognized each other. Later the same year, Frank Parker found Charlie Haynes with a fist-sized wound in his chest during the Arno Valley Campaign. Parker saved Haynes' life by carrying him to an abandoned farmhouse for medical attention.

In 1945, during the Battle of the Bulge, Oregon State tackle, Sam Czech, shared some coffee and food with a fellow soldier who had not eaten in two days. Czech soon recognized the soldier as Duke coach, Wallace Wade.

Duke Stadium, the site of the game, would later be named Wallace Wade Stadium in honor of the Duke coach.

Oregon State's Gene Gray flew more than 30 bombing missions over Germany and continued to serve after the war. In 1948, his plane crashed after a flameout on takeoff in the jungles of Panama. He later likened his body to burnt steak. He had severe burns over most of his body and both his arms had to be amputated. Gene Gray, whose arms hauled in the touchdown catch which proved the deciding margin, wound up with no arms at all.