Remember the good old days when the big-name schools were scared to play football against the University of Hawaii?

Now the Rainbow Warriors lose 63-3 and no one is very surprised.

Texas did a two-step off the UH schedule to open the 2000 season. The joke ended up being on the Longhorns, who bought their way out of a game they probably would’ve won since Hawaii regressed for a year, going 3-9 including a 45-20 loss at the hands of Portland State to start the season.

Yes, Portland State, what we now call an FCS program — from a lower division with fewer scholarship athletes so, theoretically anyway, not as much talent and especially not as much depth.

UH’s current coach, Nick Rolovich, was the quarterback to start that game. He and everyone else learned you can’t take anything for granted, regardless by how much you are favored. Rolovich bounced back as a senior in 2001 and became one of the best QBs in the program’s history.

Jim Harbaugh, the Michigan coach, somehow impressed it upon his team of blue chip recruits not to take Hawaii lightly. They knew the disadvantage of crossing 13 time zones in two weeks came with the advantage of having played a game while this was the first of the season for the Wolverines … and the first college game for many of them, as Harbaugh showed he’s not afraid to put freshmen on the field.

And everyone knows a team shows the most improvement from its first game to its second game, or that’s how the cliche goes. If that’s the case, Cal’s defense is really horrible. Or Michigan’s is the best in the state, including the Lions.

No one expected UH to pull a Portland State at the Big House — even though there was precedent from nine years prior there, with then-FCS school Appalachian State toppling Michigan 34-32.

The first game of the season is when big upsets are most likely. It’s partly because no one really knows how good any team is yet, and it’s partly because this is when depth is usually not a factor.

But the Wolverines were without several key, veteran starters and it didn’t matter. It was reminiscent of when USC brought freshman Reggie Bush off the bench in a clobbering of the Warriors in 2003.

Chris Evans, who rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns, was one of the 17 true freshmen who played for the Wolverines. Another was receiver Kekoa Crawford, a part-Hawaiian from California.

These guys could be the Fab Five, football style.

For Hawaii fans, you can either wipe this one clean from your memory banks or you can look for the black box among the wreckage for bright spots. The latter was pretty easy after the Cal game, but not this time.

When UH had chances to score it frittered them away — like getting nothing when Damien Packer’s interception on Michigan’s first offensive play put Hawaii on the Wolverine 38, and also coming up bolo at the end of the first half despite making it to the 3, first-and-goal.

Give Hawaii the points it should’ve scored and take away the pick sixes and your final is something like 49-13.

Still not even close. But a lot better than a 60-point difference caused as much by self-inflicted wounds as the opponent’s superiority.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.