"We wanted to show we're not a one-man team," wideout Jeremiah Cockheran said following the University of Hawai'i football team's season-opening 40-17 victory over Appalachian State last night at Aloha Stadium.

The Warriors played without quarterback Tim Chang, who was suspended for failing to meet an academic requirement last fall. Instead, they turned to:

• Cockheran, the new team leader, who caught scoring passes of 18, 54 and 35 yards.

• Jason Whieldon, Chang's understudy, who might not be willing to return to the chorus line after throwing for 359 yards, the second-best starting debut by a UH quarterback.

• Ross Dickerson, who blazed a 100-yard trail in a breathtaking kickoff return for a touchdown. "I just saw a little daylight on the left and, after I saw my blockers, I just broke," said Dickerson, a second-year freshman from Saint Louis School. "It's a trip. It happened so fast, I almost didn't know what was happening."

• An innovative and relentless defense, led by strong safety Hyrum Peters, rush end Travis LaBoy and inside linebacker Chad Kalilimoku.

The Warriors set the tone early, scoring on four of their first five possessions, with two of the touchdowns coming on Whieldon-to-Cockheran passes.

On the first, Cockheran, on a fade route along the right sideline, used a juke move to corkscrew cornerback Jay Lyles to the newly installed FieldTurf. Cockheran easily secured the pass from Whieldon. Lyles, frustrated, spiked his mouthpiece.

"I really have no excuses for busted plays," Lyles said.

Later, Whieldon lofted a pass to Cockheran, who was caught between two streetcars named Lyles and Michael King. "Oh, man, I thought he put the ball out there for me to die," Cockheran said.

Instead, Cockheran soared for the pass, then barely found the escape hatch as Lyles and King collided. Cockheran scooted to the end zone to complete the 54-yard play, giving UH a 21-0 lead.

"If the DB wasn't thinking, he could have killed me," Cockheran said. "He went for the interception, and I came up with the ball."

Whieldon said: "Anytime you have a receiver go up there and get the ball like he did, that makes you that much better. Jeremiah is a great receiver."

This summer, Cockheran lived with Chang's family in Mililani. "He's my roommate now," Whieldon said. "We just got a place together."

Cockheran said, laughing: "Timmy's out of the way."

Despite his successful Division I-A debut as a starter, Whieldon is expected to cede the job to Chang for UH's next game, Sept. 13 against Southern California. "I'd love to play, but Timmy's back," said Whieldon, who completed his first eight passes, amassed 206 passing yards in the first quarter, and finished 21 of 35.

"I try not to worry about that other stuff," Whieldon added. "It doesn't do any good to worry, so I don't."

UH also received a boost from the defense, which is under the shared direction of defensive coordinator George Lumpkin and pass-game coordinator Rich Miano. Together, they devised a 4-4 scheme designed to contain the Mountaineers' run-option offense.

Instead of the usual 4-3 alignment, free safety Leonard Peters moved to left-side linebacker, strongside linebacker Keani Alapa joined Kalilimoku as inside linebacker, and strong safety Hyrum Peters was given the freedom to blitz or tail the ballcarrier.

With LaBoy narrowing the backfield with his pass rushes, the Mountaineers' running game turned to mush.

"I got to play back, and it was fun," Alapa said. "I thought we did a good job of taking away their option."

The Mountaineers managed two touchdowns, on passes — including a 46-yarder when DaVon Fowlkes slipped a tackle — but the Mountaineers were clearly out of their element.

The main thing, Hyrum Peters said, "was we forced them to pass. When we did that, it was over. They did some things (with the passing game), but then we'd bounce back and kick their butt."

Peters made nine tackles, grabbed an interception and knocked down a Williams pass at the line of scrimmage.

"Didn't you know I can jump?" the 5-foot-8 Peters said to reporters. "It's just doing it every day in practice, knowing when to jump and when not to jump."

After the game, the dazed Mountaineers made the slow trek to the locker room. It was 3:15 a.m. in Boone, N.C., when the game ended. The Mountaineers, who compete in Division I-AA, leave today.

"It was a really rough game," said ASU linebacker Sam Smalls, who played with a hairline fracture in his jaw. "We got frustrated at times. We fell hard."

Teammate Lyles added: "This is the best competition we'll have all year. This was a learning experience, and believe me, we learned a lot."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8051