It has been said a football cornerback in man-to-man coverage is alone on an island.

Anthony Pierce is a cornerback who came to Hawaii’s most populated island to make it alone.

"I had to go my own way," said Pierce, a University of Hawaii freshman who was raised in California. "I wanted to make my own path, make my own destiny, and start building my own name."

Pierce is developing into a reliable cornerback. He played more than 50 snaps against UNLV on Saturday. In Wednesday’s practice, he made a tackle or breakup on five consecutive passes in team drills. On Thursday, he nearly picked off two passes.

"He’s doing a good job, said defensive coordinator Thom Kaumeyer, noting Pierce will have an expanded role for UH’s next game, against Colorado State on Oct. 26. UH has a bye this weekend.

Pierce’s father is Antonio Pierce, a former New York Giants middle linebacker who has a Super Bowl ring and played in the 2006 Pro Bowl. The elder Pierce is now a football analyst for ESPN.

Father and son are close, but Anthony Pierce maintains: "I’m my own person. I don’t go around announcing who my dad is. I try to live the normal life and make my own path out here."

He said his childhood was "normal to me. That’s how I grew up. To me, he’s just my dad. It’s the same way everyone else accepts their father."

Antonio Pierce has repeatedly offered this fatherly advice: "Never give up. Never stop fighting."

Anthony Pierce used that as fuel beginning as a high school sophomore.

"You really start to notice people getting a lot bigger than you," Pierce said. "You have to turn on that switch every time you come on the field and become this aggressive person."

Pierce signed with UH in February 2012 with the intent of grayshirting in the fall, a procedure that meant he would delay enrolling at UH until January 2013. He used that open semester to train.

But while he improved his strength and maintained his quickness, he struggled to regain the rhythm lost after missing his first football season since the sixth grade.

"It was a big adjustment," Pierce said. "It was college. I was a freshman, but everybody else settled in (a semester earlier). I had a tough spring catching on to the system. I feel I’m grabbing it and running with it now."

Pierce is 5 feet 8 and 165 pounds.

"He’s a tough, little scrappy guy," cornerback Ne’Quan Phillips said. "He has a lot of talent. He’s quick. He’s mobile."

Pierce said: "You have to have a certain amount of feistiness when you’re my height or smaller than me. People feel they can bully you around on the field. You have to show you’re not a pushover."

O-line under renovation

The Warriors’ offensive line is undergoing more tinkering this bye week, with Sean Shigematsu getting work at left guard. He has started at both tackle positions this season.

"I just go wherever (line) coach (Chris Naeole) wants me," Shigematsu said. "I go to each position, try my best, and see how it works out."

With a defensive tackle directly across, Shigematsu said, "everything is a lot quicker. You have to think quicker, react quicker."

Shigematsu said he receives on-field guidance from left tackle Mike Milovale and center Ben Clarke. A bonus is Shigematsu gets to pull on perimeter runs.

Kody Afusia moved from left guard to right guard, and Frank Loyd Jr. was the No. 1 right tackle on Thursday.

Another move on defense

Daniel Masifilo has moved from wideout to cornerback.

"I’m trying to get on the field," said Masifilo, a walk-on who transferred from Arizona State. "It’s my last year."

Masifilo said the move was prompted when he "threw a hint" at defensive coordinator Thom Kaumeyer.

"I saw an opportunity, and everything fell into place," Masifilo said.

He intercepted a pass during team drills on Thursday.

Some fun, then run

To breathe fun into bye week, the Rainbow Warriors staged a competition between linemen from offense and defense to see who can catch towering punts off the JUGS machine.

Defensive end George Daily-Lyles, a converted linebacker, made the only catch. The outcome meant the offense had to run laps after Thursday’s practice.

"I probably had the worst hands of all the linebackers," Daily-Lyles said of his previous position, "but I guess the worst hands at linebacker makes for the best hands at lineman."