oregon state took the second half kickoff. after a first down, the beavers punted. duke drove to the beaver 28. on first down, the blue devils ran a double reverse and lost 12 yards. after an incomplete pass, the oregon state defense forced a sack, which ended the threat. the duke punt rolled out of bounds at the 15. the beavers drove 73 yards to the blue devil 12 before getting pushed back to the duke 15. oregon state's 33-yard field goal attempt was no good. the beavers' defense pushed the blue devils back to their own nine. on third down, duke quick kicked, and the beavers started their next drive at their own 46. the defenses, which played brilliantly for most of the game let down for the subsequent three-drive stretch. oregon state retook the lead when zellick scored on a 31-yard pass from bob dethman, set up by a 24-yard gene gray run. duke would respond on the very next drive, getting 39 yards on a lach reverse around left end before scoring on a one-yard run by winston siegfried three plays later. the blue devils' coach, wallace wade, who had won the 1926 rose bowl while at alabama after a comeback against washington, remarked to an assistant that, "it looks like 1926 all over again." 1942 would play out differently than 1926. in the following drive, bob dethman found streaking reserve halfback, gene gray, on a 33-yard pass. the duke safety would just miss making a play on the ball. gray faked inside and went outside, which confused moffatt storer, the blue devil cornerback, so badly that he fell down. the duke safety on the far side of the field took a good angle, but gray was simply too fast and outran the safety the final 35 yards into the end zone. the 68-yard pass play was the longest in rose bowl history and would remain the longest pass play for more than 20 years. the extra point would be blocked, leaving the door open for a duke comeback. the 20 points that oregon state scored were the most scored on the blue devils since 1930, they year before wade became head football coach. it was the most points scored against a wade-coached team since 1928.