College Confidential

TCU women lose another key player before season begins Nov. 11

TCU women’s basketball guard Briesha Wynn has been suspended indefinitely for academic reasons, coach Jeff Mittie announced Tuesday. Wynn, a sophomore from North Crowley, was expected to contend for a starting spot this season.
"She needs to get her academics in order before she can return to the court for us," Mittie said. "We expect her to do that."
The news comes just days after the team announced that starting forward Starr Crawford, an All-Preseason Mountain West selection, will miss the season with an injury. The Horned Frogs season begins Nov. 11 at Georgia.

-- Stefan Stevenson
@FollowtheFrogs

Injury knocks TCU reserve LT Michael Thompson out for rest of season

Reserve left tackle Michael Thompson will miss the rest of the season after sustaining an undisclosed leg injury in the third quarter Saturday, TCU coach Gary Patterson said.
Patterson said after Saturday’s game the redshirt freshman’s injury occurred away from contact, and indicated it was likely serious.
James Dunbar, who had been academically ineligible through the first six games, was available and replaced Thompson. Starter Jeff Olson, along with the rest of the first team linemen, sat out most of the second half.
TCU (5-2, 3-0 in the Mountain West) meets BYU (6-2) at 7 p.m. Friday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. The game will be televised on ESPN.

-- Stefan Stevenson
@FollowtheFrogs

TCU starting linebacker Tanner Brock out for the season

Tanner Brock, TCU’s leading tackler a year ago, will miss the rest of the season with a foot injury.
Brock, a junior, had foot surgery early in the summer, and practiced for much of August camp. He started in the season opener at Baylor but aggravated the injury and did not play in the second half. He has missed the Frogs’ last two games.
Senior linebacker Tank Carder, who had surgery on his hand before last week’s game, has moved from the middle spot to the strong side spot with Brock out. Kenny Cain, Kris Gardner and Greg Burks, along with freshman Deryck Gildon, have all filled in for Brock. Cain is likely to start alongside Carder today against Portland State.
Brock led the Horned Frogs with 106 tackles in 2010 as a sophomore, 26 more than the next TCU player.
-- Stefan Stevenson

TCU's Patterson would work for Air Force's Calhoun

TCU coach Gary Patterson is firmly entrenched in the Horned Frog program, but if he ever has to relive his early vagabond assistant coach career there's one spot near the top of his list. During Patterson's media luncheon Tuesday he praised Air Force coach Troy Calhoun and said he's one coach he wouldn't mind working for.
"If he needed an assistant coach on defense I'd work for him," Patterson said. "I think he's a hard-charger, he does the things he needs to do. He's a great football coach, great motivator, and a great person."
The Frogs (0-1) open up Mountain West Conference play at Air Force (1-0) at 2:30 p.m. (CDT) Saturday. TCU dropped to No. 25 in both the USA Today's Coaches poll and the Associated Press poll, which came out today. TCU was ranked No. 14 in the AP and No. 15 by the coaches in the preseason. Air Force received votes in both polls after beating South Dakota 37-20 in Week 1.

TCU picked to finish 2nd behind Boise; Carder named Def. POY

LAS VEGAS -- A contingent of Mountain West Conference media predicted TCU to finish second in the league behind Boise State this season. It will be the Broncos first season in the MWC.
Horned Frogs' linebacker Tank Carder was named the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, while Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore was named the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Air Force kick returner Jonathan Warzeka was named the Special Teams Player of the Year.
Boise State garnered 28 first-place votes for a total of 236 points. TCU had the three remaining first-place votes and totaled 208 votes. Air Force (176), San Diego State (160), Colorado State (104), Wyoming (80), UNLV (77), and New Mexico (39) round out the predictions.
-- Stefan Stevenson

TCU ousted by New Mexico at MWC tournament

SAN DIEGO -- Bottom-seeded New Mexico defeated top-seed TCU twice, including 4-2 Friday, to win the Mountain West Conference tournament championship.
The Lobos (20-39) earn an automatic trip the NCAA tournament with the tournament title. The Horned Frogs (42-17), ranked No. 10 in the nation by Baseball America, has most likely already earned an at-large bid, but has put their potential NCAA Regional hosting bid in jeopardy with the subpar showing. TCU lost to New Mexico 4-3 in its tournament opener Wednesday at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The Frogs defeated BYU Thursday and eliminated Utah earlier Friday with a 14-1 win in which they collected 18 hits. But the Frogs' offense didn't carry over into the night game against the Lobos. Austin House was outstanding on the mound for New Mexico, holding TCU to two runs (1 earned) on eight hits in seven innings. House entered the game with an 0-2 record and 6.97 ERA.
Steven Maxwell started for TCU for the first time since developing biceps soreness April 23. But Maxwell didn't last long. He was replaced in the second inning after New Mexico jumped on him for three runs (2 earned) on three hits and a walk in the first 1 1/3 innings. Freshman Nick Frey replaced Maxwell and rose to the occasion. Frey held the Lobos to one run on five hits in seven innings of relief. Maxwell (5-1) was charged with his first loss of the season.
-- Stefan Stevenson

TCU Baseball pounds Utah 14-1; Plays New Mexico at 9 pm (CT) tonight

SAN DIEGO -- TCU pounded out 18 hits against Utah pitching to eliminate the Utes with a 14-1 win at the Mountain West Conference tournament at Tony Gwynn Stadium Friday afternoon.
The Horned Frogs (42-16) play bottom-seed New Mexico at 9:20 p.m. (CT) Friday in the championship game. The Frogs, the tournament's top seed, lost to the Lobos 4-3 Wednesday, forcing TCU into the loser's bracket. If tenth-ranked TCU beats New Mexico (19-39) Friday night, the two teams will meet again at 3 p.m. (CT) Saturday for the tournament title.
Erik Miller (7-6) pitched seven strong innings Friday afternoon, holding the Utes (29-21) to seven hits and one run. The Frogs' offense, which has collected 41 hits in three games at the tournament, was led by Josh Elander, who was 4-for-4 with two RBI, while Kyle von Tungeln and Jerome Pena each had three hits. Tyler Duffie held Utah hitless in the final two innings.
-- Stefan Stevenson

TCU will be without Winkler this week at MWC tournament

Just when TCU thought its pitching staff was completely healthy for the first time in more than a month, another setback has hindered the Horned Frogs.
TCU's most dominant and reliable pitcher this season, Kyle Winkler, will not pitch this week at the Mountain West Conference tournament to rest his arm due to some tenderness. TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said Winkler is not injured, and would have likely pitched if the NCAA Regional tournament started this week. Winkler (8-2) pitched at New Mexico last Thursday, holding the Lobos to three hits and no runs in 4 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. Winkler skipped his previous start to rest his arm. Winkler leads the team with a 1.40 ERA in 90 innings pitched this season.
Top-seeded TCU (40-15) opens the MWC tournament at 9 p.m. Wednesday at Tony Gwynn Stadium against the lowest-seeded team to advance from Tuesday's first round. Matt Purke (5-1) will start for the second time since developing shoulder soreness April 16 at San Diego State. Purke had four strikeouts in three innings last Thursday against New Mexico before Winkler took over on the mound. The 10th-ranked Frogs' usual Game 3 starter Steven Maxwell (5-0) has not pitched since developing biceps soreness April 24. He threw batting practice Monday, but his availability for the MWC tournament is questionable. Andrew Mitchell (4-1) is slated to start Thursday and Erik Miller (6-6) will likely start Friday.
-- Stefan Stevenson 

 

TCU offense explodes for 25 runs at New Mexico

TCU uncorked a scoring barrage Friday to win a slugfest at New Mexico 25-16.
The Horned Frogs (39-15, 19-3 in Mountain West) close out the regular season at 1 p.m. Saturday against the Lobos. The Mountain West Conference tournament begins Tuesday at San Diego State. The top-seeded Frogs play the lowest-seeded team to advance at 9 p.m. Wednesday.
Tenth-ranked TCU had a season-high 26 hits, including six from Jantzen Witte, four from Jason Coats, and three from Joe Weik and Taylor Featherston Friday. Only four of the 26 hits went for extra-bases, including home runs off the bench from Aaron Schultz and Zac Jordan. TCU scored 26 runs in a game at New Mexico on May 9, 2010.
TCU scored five in the first, three each in the second and third innings and scored in every inning but the seventh. The Frogs scored four runs in the eighth and finished with a run in the ninth on Schultz's solo shot. It was the first time Schultz has played since injuring a hamstring May 8 at Oklahoma State.
The Lobos (16-38, 10-13) collected 21 hits and scored seven runs off Frogs' starter Andrew Mitchell, who pitched only 3 2/3 innings. Trent Appleby (4-1) allowed three runs in the 4 1/3 innings of relief to earn the win, and Teddy Nowell allowed two runs on three hits in the ninth. Five TCU errors led to four unearned runs for New Mexico.
The two teams combined for 41 runs, 47 hits and eight errors.
-- Stefan Stevenson

TCU 2011 schedule details released

The Mountain West Conference released game times and television broadcast information for the 2011 season Thursday. A start time for TCU's opener at Baylor Sept. 3 is still to be determined, as is which television network will broadcast the game. The start time for the Week 2 showdown at Air Force is still unsettled, but the MWC says it will be at either 2:30 or 6:30 and shown on the Versus Network. The rest of the Horned Frogs' schedule details are known, which include at least four night games. The Frogs will host SMU at 7 p.m. Sept. 30, which is a Friday. The game was originally scheduled for Oct. 1. The Frogs beat SMU in University Park on a Friday in 2010. The following week TCU plays at San Diego State at 9:30 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
The Frogs potentially caught a break with two day games in consecutive weeks at Wyoming and Boise State Nov. 5 and 12. Those games start at 1 and 2:30 p.m., respectively. TCU concludes the season with a 1:30 p.m. meeting with UNLV Dec. 3 at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

2011 TCU football schedule

Date	Opponent	Time (CST)	TV
Sept. 3	at Baylor	TBD	TBD
Sept. 10	at Air Force	2:30 or 6:30	VS.
Sept. 17	Louisiana-Monroe	1 p.m.	The Mtn.
Sept. 24	Portland State	6 p.m.	None
Sept. 30	SMU	7 p.m.	CBS Sports Network
Oct. 8	at San Diego State	9:30 p.m.	CBS Sports Network
Oct. 15	Bye
Oct. 22	New Mexico	1 p.m.	The Mtn.
Oct. 28	BYU (at Cowboys Stadium)	7 p.m.	ESPN
Nov. 5	at Wyoming	1 p.m.	The Mtn.
Nov. 12	at Boise State	2:30 p.m.	VS.
Nov. 19	Colorado State	2:30 p.m.	CBS Sports Network
Nov. 26	Bye
Dec. 3	UNLV	1:30 p.m.	VS.