There’s hope, University of Hawaii football fans. It could be false, but maybe not.

Saturday’s 34-13 homecoming victory over Nevada at the Ching Complex might not be a mirage.

It wasn’t one last year. It was a confidence builder, and a sign of good things to come.

UH had lost four in a row and sat at 2-7 after an embarrassing homecoming loss to San Jose State when the Warriors went to Reno toward the end of the 2023 season.

Hawaii left Nevada with a 27-14 win, and it was the jump start to a 3-1 finish that included a huge 27-13 upset of Mountain West-leading Air Force the following week.

UH finished the season in style, with a walk-off field goal to beat Colorado State on senior night.

But the sprint to the finish didn’t make up for the slow start, and 5-8 wasn’t close enough to qualifying the Rainbows for a bowl game.

That could be different this year, though, if Hawaii (3-5) continues to play like it did Saturday the rest of the way. But it ain’t gonna be easy. Only one of its two wins against FCS teams Delaware State and Northern Iowa can count toward bowl eligibility.

The ’Bows need to prove that their first victory over an FBS opponent and fellow Mountain West member in 2024 isn’t a fluke, and they’ll need to do it against at least two teams that are significantly better than Nevada, which fell to 3-6.

To qualify for their first bowl game under third-year coach Timmy Chang, the ’Bows need to run the table against Fresno State (5-3), UNLV (6-2), Utah State (2-6) and New Mexico (3-5).

Before Saturday, in its five losses Hawaii had consistently been its own worst enemy with penalties, poor pass protection, a nearly non-existent running game, turnovers, poor performance on third down and missed opportunities in the red zone.

Did we miss anything?

With few exceptions Saturday, the Rainbows turned all of those weaknesses into strengths against the Wolf Pack, especially in a first half the home team dominated 17-0.

The Warriors offense has started most games in recent years like I do mornings when I’m out of coffee — at half-speed and falling down before I can cover 10 yards.

>> RELATED: QB Schager runs for 4 TDs as Hawaii gets first victory over FBS opponent

>> PHOTOS: Hawaii vs. Nevada

I doubt it was triple espressos, but UH needs to repeat whatever it took to prepare for Nevada for the rest of the season.

Hawaii drove steadily downfield, mixing passes with runs, on two workmanlike drives that ended with quarterback Brayden Schager scoring on short touchdown runs.

They converted on their first four third-down opportunities. They didn’t stall in the red zone.

When Nevada had the ball for the first time, UH shut the Pack down with a fourth-down sack. Nalu Emerson dropped Chubba Purdy for a 6-yard loss, making the younger brother of 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy the irrelevant one.

The Warriors took over on their own 39, and 10 plays later — including some bonehead Nevada penalties — Schager scored again on a 1-yard run.

Yes, Nevada was without its starting quarterback, and Saint Louis School alum AJ Bianco from Maui didn’t have much more first-half success than Purdy.

Purdy started the second half, and on the second play completed a long touchdown pass. But the Warriors didn’t panic, regained the momentum, and Schager scored on two more TD runs.

You can question the level of the competition, but there’s really not a lot here for UH fans to complain about.

I have just one suggestion — maybe running back Landon Sims (who performed nicely with 82 yards on nine carries) can be the one to run 19 times for 120 yards instead of Schager, because to win all of the remaining games you’re going to need the latter to throw more passes.

But, hey, whatever works.