Cougars Thorns of Plenty

In the game with the national implications of Alan Greenspan cutting interest rates, a 23-year-old Washington State quarterback with a badly sprained ankle and a 56-year-old UCLA coach with an unsteady foothold on his job were a study in contrasts.

Jason Gesser emerged as sturdy as Bob Toledo is wobbly.

Gesser left the field jubilant, carrying a single red rose.

Toledo departed, head bowed, under the escort of eight police officers.

Much of the Rose Bowl crowd of 56,335 had headed home by that time, oddly ambivalent about the 48-27 Washington State victory in a Pacific 10 Conference finale Saturday.

Many UCLA fans wanted their team to lose, either because the possibility of a Holiday Bowl berth is better than going to the Insight Bowl or because the defeat might trigger the dismissal of Toledo -- a coach in disfavor since a 52-21 loss to USC two weeks ago.

Those fans were as pleased as some USC followers were disappointed. A UCLA victory would have sent the Trojans to the Rose Bowl. Instead, it is the Cougars who earned a return trip to Pasadena.

“A lot of people wanted us to lose, that felt weird all week,” Bruin tight end Mike Seidman said. “To have Trojan people pulling for us, that was the strangest of all. To think they were the only ones who wanted us to win.”

Actually, there were others -- the entire bowl championship series and Notre Dame, for starters.

And, of course, Bruin players.

Several seniors walked off fighting tears. Their team exceeded expectations with a 7-5 record and a tie for fourth in the Pacific 10 Conference, but they surrendered 100 points in the last two games on their home field.

After the loss to USC, the Bruins hailed Carson Palmer. This time they marveled at Gesser, who started despite wearing a white custom brace on his right ankle in the shape of a question mark.

By game’s end, it was more like an exclamation point. Gesser completed 15 of 24 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns -- both in the first half, when the Cougars (10-2) built a 31-21 lead.

“He is the toughest guy in college football,” UCLA cornerback Ricky Manning Jr. said. “As bad as he was limping, it’s unbelievable what he did. Washington State is lucky to have a leader like him.”

Manning did his best to force Gesser out on a running play nine minutes into the game with UCLA ahead, 14-7. As tailback Jermaine Green tried to reverse his field, Gesser found himself leading the blocking and Manning torpedoed the quarterback’s ankle.

Gesser’s pass on the next play was almost intercepted and reserve quarterback Matt Kegel was sent in on third down. Gesser, who already had an interception by Bruin safety Ben Emanuel returned for a touchdown, tugged at his chinstrap in disgust and tried to wave off Kegel.

“They brought me out and I was yelling at the [coaches],” Gesser said. “But I was able to go right back in.”

Indeed he did. On Washington State’s next possession, he directed a 94-yard touchdown drive, completing four passes, including one of eight yards to Devard Darling for the tying score.

In an unwitting touch of irony, the UCLA band began playing “Iron Man” as Gesser returned to the field.

“When Ricky made that hit, I said, ‘He’s out,’ ” Bruin linebacker Marcus Reese said. “I thought for sure he was gone. So he deserves every accolade he gets.”

UCLA, which scored another early touchdown on a 55-yard reverse pass by receiver Jon Dubravac to running back Manuel White, was nearly helpless offensively. Freshman quarterback Drew Olson rarely had time to throw and tailback Tyler Ebell found little room to run, gaining 10 yards in nine carries.

So when the special teams caved in during the second quarter, Washington State made its move. Marcus Trufant returned a punt 37 yards to give the Cougars the ball on the UCLA 22, and two plays later Gesser connected with Jerome Riley for a 21-yard touchdown.

A fumble on the kickoff by Matt Clark led to a Cougar field goal and a 24-14 lead, and on UCLA’s next possession Jason David intercepted an Olson pass and gave Washington State the ball at the UCLA six.

John Tippins was wide open on a fake field goal, but kicker Drew Dunning underthrew him, allowing UCLA to escape damage until Green took a draw play 80 yards for a touchdown with 48 seconds left in the half.

Miscommunication on Washington State’s kickoff allowed UCLA to stay close, however. Adam Holiday mistakenly thought Coach Mike Price told him to make an onside kick, and the ball went only five yards.

Olson made his first big play, hitting freshman receiver Junior Taylor down the sideline for a 39-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 31-21 at halftime.

“We were in the game,” Olson said.

Although Toledo didn’t breathe a word to his team at halftime, he knew that the second half could determine whether he returns for an eighth season. No matter that his record is 49-32. Or that the Bruins are 3-2 since losing senior quarterback Cory Paus. Or that USC and Washington State are clearly better, more experienced teams.

The Bruins made one first down and punted on their first possession but escaped damage when Manning blocked a field goal.

After punting on their next possession, however, they weren’t so fortunate. Adam Braidwood blocked Nate Fikse’s kick, giving the Cougars the ball at the UCLA 15. Tippins scored from one yard and the rout was on, 38-21.

Olson, who completed 13 of 27 passes for 163 yards and two interceptions, threw his second touchdown pass -- a screen that Seidman took 27 yards -- late in the third quarter. But Erik Coleman returned an interception 25 yards for the last Cougar score with 10:20 left.

Only when the outcome was cemented did Gesser limp off the field for the last time.

“It was just remarkable what Jason did,” Price said. “He’s got to be the MVP of Washington State football history.”

Gesser can now rest up for the Rose Bowl. Toledo, however, will be on pins and needles until he meets with Athletic Director Dan Guerrero on Monday.

Guerrero, who is in his first year, refused since the USC game to comment on Toledo’s status and declined to give the coach a vote of confidence after the game Saturday. However, he said he has not decided whether to fire him.

“I’m still evaluating,” he said.

To make a change, Guerrero might need the approval of Chancellor Albert Carnesale, who told Toledo after last season that his job would be safe if the team posted a winning record and off-the-field problems were kept to a minimum.

Toledo said he plans to point out that the young team’s best days are ahead and that he wants to remain a part of it. And he admitted that the endless speculation on his job status was a distraction.

“It had a big effect on the psyche of the team,” he said.

Indications are that Guerrero won’t allow the uncertainty to linger. The team will find out today which bowl game it will play in, and will conduct practices after finals are over next week knowing whether Toledo will be back.

As for Gesser and the Cougars, they are certain to return -- on New Year’s Day. Their bus was stuck in traffic Friday night en route to the team walk-through and took 90 minutes to reach the stadium.

“Once we pulled up outside and they had that Rose Bowl sign all lit up,” defensive tackle Jeremey Williams said, “we knew it was our destiny.”

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‘D’ for Dreadful

In two games, UCLA went from having a chance to earn a Rose Bowl berth to finishing in a four-way tie for fourth place in the Pac-10 and settling for a lower-tier bowl game. Shoddy play on defense was a big reason for the Bruins’ lopsided losses in their last two games:

*--* UCLA Defense Avg. Per Game First 10 Games Last 2 Games First Downs Allowed 18.2 20 Yards Rushing 122.2 208.5 Yards Per Carry 3.4 5.1 TDs Rushing 1.0 2.5 Yards Passing 213.8 296 Yards Per Completion 13.3 15.6 TDs Passing 1.2 3.5 Total Yards 336 500.4 Yds Per Play 4.8 7.1 Points Allowed* 21.3 50

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* includes return touchdowns.