Last night, there were cheers when the Warriors lost.

In particular, quarterbacks Jason Whieldon and Tim Chang gave courageous performances in front of an encouraging crowd in a 45-28 loss to Boise State last night at Aloha Stadium.

Whieldon, who earned the start at quarterback last night as a result of his effective relief performance in a victory over Alabama last week, completed 23 of 44 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. He also led the team in rushing with 44 yards on seven carries.

"I thought we had a good game plan and I thought we had a good shot at winning the game," Whieldon said. "But the plays just didn't go our way. I blame myself. I didn't make enough plays."

Whieldon's two touchdown passes came in the first half. His first — a 4-yard strike to a wide-open Jeremiah Cockheran — gave UH a 7-0 lead. It was the first time any team held a lead against the Broncos in the last eight games.

Whieldon's second touchdown, a 2-yarder to Britton Komine, cut a Boise State lead to 17-14.

"Jason had some opportunities to make some plays early and he did," said UH quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison. "I thought he handled the whole situation pretty well."

The "situation" was more about Chang than Whieldon.

Chang was ineffective against Alabama last week, and the team was repeatedly booed when he was on the field.

But last night, he played the relief role and was greeted with a rousing ovation when he entered the game with 13:05 remaining in the fourth quarter and Hawai'i trailing, 38-21.

In his first drive last night, he out-did his performance of last week. Against Alabama, Chang was 7 of 23 for 38 yards; in his first drive last night, he was 6 for 9 for 75 yards and a touchdown.

He finished the game 10 of 19 for 110 yards with the one touchdown and one interception. He declined interview requests after the game.

"It was great for him," Whieldon said. "I was happy for him. He was the sparkplug."

Morrison added: "Timmy stepped up in the pocket real well and was accurate. He's a great quarterback. He just hit a bump in the road last week. It happens to all of them."