The crowds cheered, threw up their hands in the touchdown sign, then settled back into their plush, stadium-style seating in the dimly-lit, popcorn-scented, air-conditioned atmosphere of a movie theater.

Warrior fans sold out Consolidated Theater's Ko'olau Stadium 10 theaters last night for the University of Hawai'i's football game against San Jose State, watching possibly the largest screen — 15 by 32 feet — showing the game in Hawai'i.

"I thought it sounded cool," Joshua Massey said. "I came because of my friend, who has way better seats than me."

Massey, 27, and Sven Anders, 46, both of Kane'ohe, said they usually see the games in person.

Massey and Anders were sitting in the front row, and both said they would return to the theater to watch the game — though Massey "would come back, but come earlier than 5 p.m. (to get better seating)."

During the pregame, the only sounds were the televised feed and the crunching of popcorn. But some clapped when K5 play-by-play announcer Jim Leahey revealed that Inoke Funaki would be the starting quarterback over injured Tyler Graunke.

"We didn't know if we could be loud or not," Massey said of the fans who were unsure if they were supposed to abide by typical theater etiquette.

A completion from Funaki to Malcolm Lane for the Warriors' first play of the game received cheers, and from then on the Warriors received appropriate applause or groans from the 134 gathered in the theater. Not surprisingly, Kealoha Pilares' two touchdown runs collected the largest reaction, including several fans throwing their arms upward to signify a touchdown.

The viewing arose out of Ko'olau general manager Art Downing's love of Warrior football.

"I work on Saturdays, and I'm always in a rush to get out of here," he said. "Now, I don't have to wait to see what the score is."

Arlin Bates of Salt Lake City was watching the game with his father-in-law Bob Wada and 5-year-old son, Dylan Bates.

Bates is visiting Hawai'i and said he is more of a football fan in general than a UH fan specifically, but came to watch with his family.

"I think it's awesome," Bates said. "I think it's a great idea. It gets a lot of the fans together."

He said he's not heard of similar showings for college sports in Salt Lake City, but Utah Jazz games are shown in the Delta Center for away games.

Usher Chris Johnson, 16, said the theater was more crowded than usual for the football game.

"The way the theater is doing, even if it's a newer movie, there are still some rows empty," he said. "But this is full. I didn't expect it to be this full."

Downing agreed: "This is amazing. At this time of year, no one is coming to theaters. (This time) we're sold out."

Johnson said the game might interrupt his usual duties.

"People are going to ask me to find them seats, but I'm going to be distracted watching the game," said Johnson, a senior at Le Jardin Academy. "It feels like a big football party."

Watching at Ko'olau was "very convenient," Massey said. "I get irritated with (the Aloha Stadium) traffic."

"My wife would rather have me come here than go to the stadium," Anders said. "Sometimes it's hard to get out of there."

Massey said it takes them a minimum of 35 minutes to get home to Kane'ohe from Aloha Stadium, but expected it would take them about 10 minutes last night.

Anders said next time, "we may tailgate, but I don't know if they'll be OK with that."

The theater provided the typical movie fare, but also offered a variety of combinations of hot dogs, popcorn, drinks, pizza and nachos.

Ko'olau is planning to show the remaining slate of televised games.

Tickets are $10 per person. The theater was sold out by 5:30 p.m. for last night's first event.

Consolidated Theaters' promotions and events manager Rachel Gibson said it would "look into" offering UH games at other theaters.

The theater borrowed the projector from Word of Life, which uses the facilities Sundays, and used the Oceanic Cable pay-per-view feed.

"It's a convenience for them, and I'm really glad they like it," Downing said. "It's something new and nobody's ever done it, so why not try it?"