A THORNY SITUATION WSU HEADED TO ROSE BOWL; TOLEDO'S FATE NOW UP IN AIR WASH. ST. 48, UCLA 27.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

PASADENA - At the north end of the Rose Bowl, Washington State players and coaches bowed down before thousands of their crimson-clad fans with red roses clenched in their fists or their teeth.

At the south end, there was an entirely different scene.

UCLA coach Bob Toledo, head bowed after receiving a brief - perfunctory? - handshake from chancellor Albert Carnesale, walked straight ahead flanked only by a couple of security guards and saluted by few among the several hundred who gathered over the tunnel to the locker rooms.

The scene, victor and vanquished, wasn't just a metaphor for the day in a rousing, Rose Bowl-clinching 48-27 victory by Washington State (10-2, 7-1 Pacific-10 Conference) and its hobbled but heroic quarterback, Jason Gesser.

It might be the final and lasting image of Toledo's seven-year reign as head coach at UCLA (7-5, 4-4), which could come to an end as early as Monday.

UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero, who met with Toledo last week without offering him any assurances he would return, will meet with Toledo again Monday as is their custom.

``I haven't made a decision,'' said Guerrero, who declined further comment as he stood on the sidelines and watched the final minutes tick off.

Toledo, asked at the postgame news conference what case he'd make for himself, pointed to the youth of his team, which played 22 freshmen this season.

``The big thing is we have a young football team,'' said Toledo, whose team will learn today whether it's in the Holiday, Insight or Las Vegas bowl. ``We were picked for sixth in the conference when the season started. When (quarterback) Cory Paus went down (at midseason), that obviously affected us an awful lot. We're still in fourth place, we're going to a bowl game, we've got a lot of returning players, hopefully they've learned a lot from these experiences. Basically, the decision is made by somebody else.''

However, according to one source, if Guerrero fires Toledo - a decision that would be signed off on by Carnesale and vice chancellor Pete Blackman - it will be less about this season or even about Toledo's .500 record the last 48 games.

The determining factor will be whether Guerrero believes Toledo can lead this program back to the level he had it in 1997 and 1998, when the Bruins had back-to-back 10-2 records and top-10 finishes.

The Bruins - young, bowl-bound or otherwise - have been shown the last two games how far they are from the nation's elite, and the difference between having a Heisman Trophy candidate and a 19-year-old freshman at quarterback.

The seventh-ranked Cougars and fifth-ranked USC have hit the Bruins for 100 points, and just as Carson Palmer did two weeks ago, a hobbling Jason Gesser hit them for big plays.

Gesser, wearing a form-fitting brace over his badly sprained right ankle, overcame an early interception that was returned 41 yards for a touchdown by Ben Emanuel to pass for 247 yards and two touchdowns.

``I was surprised he played as well as he did,'' UCLA cornerback Ricky Manning said. ``He's the toughest guy in this game. To play in a game as pivotal as this shows what a great player he is.''

The UCLA offense and special teams, just as they did against USC, contributed to the problems. The Bruins had a blocked punt, quarterback Drew Olson was intercepted twice - one returned 25 yards by Erik Coleman for the game-sealing touchdown - and fumbled a kickoff.

The Bruins, who never were able to establish a running game, got a boost late in the first half, when WSU bungled an onside-kick attempt and Olson hit Junior Taylor on a 39-yard bomb to bring the Bruins within 31-21 at halftime. But they got no closer the rest of the way.

``We had the effort,'' Manning said. ``We didn't play perfect, and if you don't do that against the Pac-10 champs and a Rose Bowl-bound team, you're going to get beat.''

Yet, the topic in the locker room afterward wasn't so much about the game as it was about Toledo. The buzz has built throughout the week that he might be in trouble.

``Everybody knows what's going on,'' defensive tackle Rodney Leisle said. ``We're not stupid. I think we've got great coaches and I hope we played well enough to keep them, but you know how the world works. Sometimes there's politics. The one thing I will say is that we've stuck together as a family.''

Tight end Mike Seidman said: ``We've got talent and a lot of heart, but we made some mistakes and that's going to happen with young guys. But you can never question our heart.''

Seidman was one of 14 seniors who left the Rose Bowl for the last time.

The question is, as Toledo walked up the tunnel and drove off into the night with his wife, will the same be said for him?

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Photo:

(color) Washington State's Jason Gesser completed 15 of 24 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns to put the Cougars in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer