Tom O'Brien has a relatively simple gameplan for Boston College during its Insight.com Bowl matchup with Colorado on Dec. 31 in Tucson, Ariz.

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"Try to keep it close until the fourth quarter and then find some way to make a play to win the game,'' the Eagles' third-year coach said.

Hey, it worked all season -- Boston College is bowl-bound for the first time since 1994 -- so why not in the postseason?

In engineering a turnaround from 4-7 last year to 8-3 this season, the Eagles did it the hard way, battling and scrapping to the final minute in more than half of their games. Six were decided by four points or less -- and they won five of them.

It's no coincidence. O'Brien, a Naval Academy graduate and a former Marine second lieutenant, is big on mental toughness.

"We try to get ourselves in a position to win,'' he said. "When you get to that point in the game, somebody has to make a play to win the game. We came into this year talking about mental toughness, our will to win, hanging in there and playing 60 minutes, and not looking at the scoreboard. I think we've done that.''

Though Boston College had three players earn first-team all-Big East honors (OT Darnell Alford, DT Chris Hovan and safety Pedro Cirino), this isn't a particularly talented Eagles team. Nor is it an experienced one, with just 12 seniors on the roster. But it wound up ranked No. 25 in the Associated Press' final regular season Top 25 poll in a year when simply getting above .500 was the goal.

And it did so despite the loss of the Big East's leading rusher from 1998, Mike Cloud. Junior Cedric Washington simply stepped in and rushed for 1,122 yards, registering the 13th 1,000-yard season in school history in his first year as a starter.

"I talked a lot this year about mental toughness,'' O'Brien said. "We lost a couple of down-to-the-wire games last year."

This year, Baylor went down to the last minute (a 30-29 overtime victory), Navy did (a 14-10 victory), as did the Pittsburgh, Miami and Syracuse games (they were decided by a combined seven points).

"You've got to be prepared to play the whole way, and if it goes into overtime, you've got to be prepared to play that," he said. "You have to be mentally tough and able to withstand the highs and lows that happen in a football game. That's one thing we've been able to accomplish this year.''

The Personnel File

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Cedric Washington, junior tailback. The preseason concerns over who would replace Mike Cloud, the Big East's leading rusher a year ago, disappeared in a hurry. Washington had six 100-yard games and finished second in the conference in rushing with 1,122 yards en route to all-Big East honors -- recording the 13th 1,000-yard season in Boston College history. He is averaging 5.1 yards per carry and has seven touchdowns.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Chris Hovan, senior, defensive tackle. A three-time first-team all-conference selection, Hovan was a unanimous pick for the honor this season. The 6-3, 290-pounder led the league in tackles for losses with 21, tied for second in the league in sacks with 10½ and also tied for the conference lead with five forced fumbles. And that was despite facing constant double teams. If Pedro Cirino is the emotional leader of BC's defense, Hovan is its physical warrior.

COACH UPDATE: Tom O'Brien (16-17, three years at Boston College; same overall). After back-to-back 4-7 seasons, O'Brien wasn't under pressure, but he might have been squirming a bit, especially since he was handed an opening six games that consisted of Baylor, Navy, Rutgers, Northeastern, Temple and Pitt. This was not a schedule against which another 4-7 record would be acceptable. He and the Eagles did what they had to do against that slate, finishing 8-3 and earning the school's first bowl bid since 1994. O'Brien saw his team go 5-1 in games decided by four points or less this year.

STRENGTHS: The Eagles won't dazzle you in any one area, but they are solid in most of them. Junior Cedric Washington is a durable back who suits the power running game perfectly, and BC can come in with a nice change-of-pace with backups Carlton Rowe and promising freshman William Green. Junior quarterback Tim Hasselbeck proved to be a good fit for this offense as well -- a low-mistake guy who was also a running threat.

Defensively, BC is physical and experienced (six seniors start), and has to be. Speed is still in short supply on this unit, which is why a speed offense like Virginia Tech's rolled up 555 yards. With three wins (two on the road) in the final four games, this is a team that got better and became more confident as the season wore on.

CONCERNS: Speed teams give the Eagles fits -- and that's something Colorado has. And the erratic season that senior kicker John Matich had (9 for 17 field goals) is an ongoing worry. So is the tendency of this defense to give up a lot of yards. Ten of the 11 opponents went for 337 yards or more.

Noteworthy

O'BRIEN STAYING PUT? Even though he has four years left on his contract and insists he's happy where he is, O'Brien finds his name surfacing for other jobs. He was first mentioned as one of five possibilities for the North Carolina State job. Then a Boston newspaper reported that O'Brien's old boss, Virginia coach George Welsh, would be retiring after his team's bowl game and that O'Brien was the prime candidate for the job. O'Brien was Welsh's offensive coordinator before going to BC. "I don't think George Welsh is retiring. That's the first I've heard of it,'' said O'Brien.

The rumor makes sense, since Welsh is 67, but O'Brien doesn't appear to antsy to leave Chestnut Hill. "I don't have any control over what people say,'' he said. "The same thing happened when I was an assistant (at Virginia). There were head jobs I was supposedly involved in. As I've said, I have no control over what people say, whether it's factual or not.''

FAMILY AFFAIR: The Eagles' bowl matchup with Colorado means that BC's junior quarterback, Tim Hasselbeck, will be playing against the alma mater of his father, former NFL tight end Don Hasselbeck. The elder Hasselbeck was two-time All-Big Eight (that's pre-Big 12 days) at Colorado from 1973-76 and a first-team All-American in 1976. He played in the NFL from 1977-85 with the New England Patriots, Oakland Raiders, Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants.

Don's other son (and Tim's older brother), Matt, was Boston College's quarterback from 1994-97. He's now a backup with the Green Bay Packers.

UNDERDOG ROLE: The Eagles were 10-point underdogs when they went to Notre Dame -- and won 31-29 on Nov. 20. So they're not fazed at all to be 8 1/2-point underdogs to a 6-5 Colorado team.

O'Brien intends to use the oddsmakers' lack of respect for his team as motivation once again. "I don't know what that is or what it is, but it's another one of those things ... it's another opportunity against a team that's been a national champion, that's been on the national scene,'' he said. "It's a Big 12 team. I guess people perceive them to be a much better football team than we are. So we just have to go out there and play as well as we can, which we will do.''

QUITE A TURNAROUND: Boston College's improvement from 4-7 last year to 8-3 this year -- a plus 4 -- is the third-best turnaround in college football's I-A ranks this season. Only Stanford (3-8 to 8-3, plus 5) and Hawaii (0-12 to 8-4, plus 8) improved more dramatically from last season.

BOWLING AGAIN: BC, which is 5-5 in bowl games, is playing in its first bowl since beating Kansas State, 12-7, in the Aloha Bowl on Dec. 25, 1994.

RARE COMPANY: Defensive tackle Chris Hovan became the first BC player to earn first-team All-Big East honors three straight years. He also made second-team Associated Press All-American.

BIG 12 SUCCESS: Boston College is 13-7 all-time against teams now in the Big 12, including a 30-29 overtime victory over Baylor in the season opener.

A Look Ahead

Here's a glance at who the Eagles will have to replace in the starting lineup next season.

OFFENSE: Four. The Eagles don't lose a lot offensively, but what they do lose is quality stuff -- mostly along the offensive line, too. OT Darnell Alford was a first-team All-Big East selection, while center Butch Palaza and tight end Bryan Arndt were solid all season. The only other departing senior starter is WR Derrick Crittenden, but the Eagles have some talented, young wideouts waiting to move in.

DEFENSE: Six. O'Brien faces a major rebuilding job here, since he has just 12 seniors on the roster and six start on defense. Two are first-team All-Big East selections (DT Chris Hovan and safety Pedro Cirino) while another, LB Frank Chamberlin, led the team in tackles in earning second-team all-league honors. Hovan received the All-America honors, but Chamberlin was voted the team MVP by his teammates.

SPECIAL TEAMS: One. John Matich wasn't the most reliable of kickers (he was 9-for-17 on field goals this season, with a long of 45 yards) but he leaves as the school's No. 2 career scorer with 243 points.