Attention to detail pays off for Fiedorowicz

IOWA CITY -- There's no getting around the fact that Iowa's tight end position has been a bit of a talent search this season.

The first question has been on the whereabouts of sophomore C.J. Fiedorowicz, who came to Iowa in 2010 with a ton of scholarship offers and recruiting hype.

Fiedorowicz got the start in Saturday's 24-16 victory over Michigan and put in his best performance as a Hawkeye. Sure, he caught just one pass, but his blocking was stellar, drawing notice from the ESPN crew and helping running back Marcus Coker attack Michigan's perimeter.

"I've been paying attention to the details lately," the 6-foot-7, 265-pounder said. "The last few weeks of practice have been going well, so they stuck me in today and I was doing what I was supposed to."

Iowa might've run more double-tight end formations Saturday than it has all season. Fiedorowicz was one of those tight ends, along with junior Zach Derby and senior Woody Orne, an O-lineman who started playing some tight end four weeks ago.

Along with fullback Brad Rogers, this was Iowa's heavy formation and it was effective against a young, undersized Michigan front seven.

On Coker's 13-yard TD run in the fourth quarter, Fiedorowicz was motioned to the right side of Iowa's formation. He locked up with a defensive end and created a traffic jam, sealing off pursuit and allowed Coker to stride into the end zone untouched.

"C.J. has done a great job these last couple weeks," quarterback James Vandenberg said. "He's really growing. I think you could see that today. He played really well."

Fiedorowicz caught just the one pass, but it was a 9-yard gain to Michigan's 1 and set up 1-yard TD pass to senior tight end Brad Herman in the second quarter.

Fiedorowicz was maybe 1 yard from a perfect day.

"The ball was over the end zone, but we punched it in, so that's all that matters," Fiedorowicz said. "He's [Herman] a tight end and I'm happy for him."