John Welsh led Idaho's upset win over Southern Miss in the Humanitarian Bowl.

It explains how Welsh threw for four touchdowns and 291 yards against a heavily favored Southern Miss team that had promised to knock him out of the game.

It also helps to explain why the defending Big West conference champions see no reason why they shouldn't go undefeated this year, despite opening the 1998 season ranked last out of 112 Division I teams by one national publication.

In addition to his pads and a sweat-soaked T-shirt, there's a little bravado beneath his jersey on game days.

A sample:

"Our goal is to go undefeated," he said. "There isn't any reason we should lose a game. ... I'm sure a lot of people may think (last year) was a one-time deal. But there's no reason, if we go out and do what we're capable of doing, that we can't play with anyone."

That attitude was evident in Idaho's fourth game last year. In Welsh's first start -- in front of 80,000 LSU fans in the unfriendly venue known as "Death Valley" -- the redshirt freshman matter-of-factly led the Vandals on a game-opening drive that gave them a 7-0 lead.

The advantage was short-lived -- the Tigers won 53-20. But there was no doubt that Welsh's grasp on the starting quarterback job was going to be long term. He finished the year with 1,387 yards passing and 11 touchdowns.

"(The coaches) just decided to start me that week against LSU, just to kind of see what I had," Welsh said. "I was a freshman and nobody really knew anything about me. They kind of took a chance there.

"You can't ask for a better game to start. Some guys might be a little timid in that situation, that's understandable. But I felt like I had been waiting to do that my whole life."

It was a roll of the dice that continues to come up "7."

"He just gets better and better," said Idaho coach Chris Tormey, who was a one of the finalists for the Washington job that went to Rick Neuheisel.

Tormey nearly ended up moving one state and some 500 miles west last year, But Welsh might not have ended up playing in cozy Moscow, Idaho -- where 11,000 students make their home and 16,000 is capacity at the Kibbie Dome -- were it not for some strange circumstances his senior year in high school.

Welsh led his south Chicago team to the Illinois state finals, a season worthy of national recruiting attention for a 6-2, 210-pounder with the requisite strong arm, solid frame, good footspeed and an understanding of the game.

The attention never came, but as it turned out, the witholding of recruiting letters by his high school coach probably had more to do with it than his play. Welsh contends the move -- supposedly to prevent distraction until season's end -- cost him the opportunity to play at a more prominent program.

By the time he could pursue the opportunities, Welsh said, most schools had used their scholarship allotment. As a result, his family spent $16,000 to attend Milford Prep Academy in Connecticut before Idaho came calling with a scholarship offer.

Welsh has since sued the coach seeking damages of about $50,000.

"I'm not complaining about Idaho, it's a great place," he said. "It's just the fact that I had to go to a prep school and try to do everything to get a scholarship."

While Welsh had to go out of his way to get Idaho to notice him, the Vandals had to do the same when it came to their own conference. Coaches and the media made them the consensus last-place team in last year's preseason polls.

This year it will be different. And Welsh welcomes it.

He's spent the last few months working out informally with about 60 players who chose not to go home for the summer. He's added a few pounds, helped in no small part by meals at the home of his roommate Rick DeMulling's parents. The offensive tackle is from nearby Spokane, Wash.

That won't be the last time Welsh makes the trek across the state line. The Kibbie Dome doesn't measure up to minimum attendance required for Division I-A teams, which means while it goes through an expansion, the Vandals will be playing at Washington State's Martin Stadium roughly 10 miles from the Idaho campus.

"This year it promises to be different. Everyone shoots for the guy on top. A lot of teams are going to bring their best game. That's OK, because so are we."