At the beginning of the second half, a father and his son in replica Tebow jerseys walked out of the stadium’s northwest exit and headed to their home.

At the same moment, a young man in a genuine Tebow jersey walked out of the stadium’s southeast tunnel and headed to the field.

As they were leaving, he was coming to play.

The kid may never forgive the dad. They missed all the excitement Sunday afternoon.

Never before has a Broncos throng felt so good about defeat. Tens of thousands were cheering, chanting and chortling at the end.

Timmy Tebow gave them all something else to talk about.

“It was fun to play football again,” Tebow told me later, “but there is no rejoicing in a loss.”

Clearly, there was.

At previous home games, the crowd had been surly, distressed, even hostile. The fans abandoned hope when things went bad. When the Chargers scored a touchdown 13 seconds before halftime to take a 23-10 lead, 74,895 witnesses were apathetic. How the mighty Mile High has fallen.

In the fourth quarter — as he had done last season here against the Texans the day after Christmas — Tebow provided hope. When trailing at halftime, the Broncos have been beaten in 19 of their past 20 games. The one exception was Tebow’s start against Houston.

He almost did it — again. Down by 16 in the fourth quarter, the Broncos, with Tebow playing real time against the Chargers, led the offense to two touchdowns in 3 minutes, 16 seconds — and had a chance to tie the game, but his two-point conversion fade pass to Brandon Lloyd failed. Then, after a San Diego field goal, the Broncos got the ball back at their 20 in the final seconds, and Tebow took them to the to Chargers’ 29 before a final scramble and desperation pass into the end zone was knocked down.

Whew!

“If we had 30 more seconds, or another timeout,” Tebow said.

The quarterback debate will rage on.

Kyle Orton was awful in the first half; Tebow looked dreadful in the third quarter. Finally, though, he was Touchdown Timmy.

“I think Tim Tebow sparked the team today,” said coach John Fox, who has tried so hard to avoid a firestorm, but has fueled the flames. When asked if the Broncos could have success with Tebow, Fox replied: “We’re looking to have long-term success with somebody. . . . I’ve told you all along that he’s a good young player. He’s got some intangibles that I know as a coach, I like a lot, and we’ll go from there.”

Fox would not commit to naming a starter for the team’s next game, after the bye, in South Florida against the Dolphins. The coach said he will meet with his staff, look at the tapes of the game and “move forward from there . . . the sooner the better.”

Oddly, the Dolphins will be honoring Tebow and the Gators’ national championship team when the Broncos are in town.

Tebow earned the start Sunday.

As I’ve maintained since last year, the Broncos must find out about Tebow and figure out if they have to draft a quarterback next year. The Broncos are over and out. Since 1970, only nine teams that began 1-4 made the playoffs.

The pressure, the circumstances and the cast around him are getting to Orton. The only touchdown the Broncos scored in the first half was on a rare interception return. You can’t change most of the other 21 starters, and the coaching staff is not leaving.

It’s officially Tebow time.

Tebow said he had “no idea” if he would start the next game.

“There are other people who do that. I just go play football.”

The detractors will say that: Tebow bobbled three snaps, but he and starting center J.D. Walton don’t practice together. Tebow and Brady Quinn share reps with the backup center; Tebow missed on his first four passes; and the Broncos punted on his first three possessions.

But he came through by running for a 12-yard touchdown and hooking up with Knowshon Moreno on a 28-yard screen pass.

The two-point conversion play initially was supposed to be a run, but the Broncos switched off after they saw the Chargers’ defense, and the referee delayed the play because of a review on the touchdown.

“I was feeding off the crowd,” Tebow said. “I love it when they’re rowdy.”

The Broncos didn’t win the game, but they won the hearts of the fading faithful.

Next home game, the father and the son in the Tebow jerseys will have hope — and stay to watch Tebow play.