Spit Blood Predictions: Opening Weekend at Lupton

I hate to sound like an ingrate for the recent rain we've had, but does Mother Nature really need to mess up the first three home games of the new baseball season? Then again- I don't have a yard and, like Jack Donaghy, I'm not a farmer- so what do I really care? I'm excited for baseball, and I don't want to wait another day.

With the arrival of baseball season, we welcome back our old Friday afternoon fluff content- Spit Blood predictions. It's your chance to show us that you can see into the future, with the added bonus that success might translate into semi-regular guest appearances on the Montel Williams Show. He's still alive, right?

So let's hear it- give me your predictions, in the comments section, on the following:

-How the Frogs will fare in the 3-game set with the Rebels.

-How cooperative Mother Nature will be over the weekend (I'm kind of sweating whether or not they'll play tonight).

-The weekend MVPs at the plate, in the field and on the mound.

-How freshman slugger Kevin Cron will do in his first collegiate action. Personally, I think the kid is going to be a star and a future fan-favorite. He'll be the mammoth first baseman wearing jersey #00 (according to his facebook page, "It isn't double zero....it's double ohhhhhhhh man I just hit a ball into the parking lot!").

-The final score of tomorrow night's TCU-Boise State basketball game on what I can only assume is a hideous blue court.

-The high-scorer in that game.

-And a wild-card. The Mavs visit the Knicks at Madison Square Garden Sunday afternoon. What will Jeremy Lin's line be against the defending champs, and what will the final score be? If you're going to reply with something like "I don't watch the NBA", go back to killerfrogs with the rest of the grumpy old men.

Top Questions for Spring Practice: #7

Uhhhh, holding much?

As the Frogs move into the Big 12 next year, they will be facing- on a nearly weekly basis- some of the some sophisticated and high-powered passing attacks in the nation. While I'm sure GP will still be dialing up plenty of blitzes, I would expect to see a lot of what you saw this year- the linebackers helping out the "5" more than the "4" in the 4-2-5. This means that a lot of the pressure on the QB is going to have to come from the edge of the defensive line, which is why defensive end is #7 on our list of Top 10 questions heading into spring practice.

From Aaron & Bo Schobel to Tommy Blake and Chase Ortiz to Jerry Hughes, Frog fans have become accustomed to seeing top-flight pass-rushing defensive ends over the years. They haven't had an end get to double-digit sacks the past two years, though I expect that little streak to end this fall. Stansley Maponga had a break-out sophomore season in 2011- totaling 9 sacks, 13.5 tackles for loss among 55 total stops and a scary-for-opposing-ball-carriers 5 forced fumbles. He'll be one of the leaders of the defense in TCU's first two years in the Big 12, but the depth behind this budding star is what is really in question.

The most likely candidates to start opposite Maponga are senior Ross Forrest, a former walk-on from Odessa, and junior Matt Anderson, who missed all of 2011 with an injury. Forrest totaled 1.5 sacks and 6 tackles for loss last year amongst 32 total tackles. Anderson, who will probably be able to use a redshirt for the 2011 season and therefore only be a sophomore this year, had 4 tackles and a forced fumble as a true freshman in 2010. He's a converted high school safety who has bulked up to 254lbs, and all indications were that he was making incredible progress at adapting to being a defensive end before he went down last year.

Junior Jon Koontz, like Forrest a former walk-on, was a pleasant surprise last fall. A bit undersized at 6'2" 230lbs, Koontz played in all 13 games and totaled 4 tackles for loss amongst 16 total tackles. In a unit that is short on experience, he provides much-needed depth.

This is where losing Blake Roberts hurts. The highly-regarded pass-rusher from Tyler Lee would be entering his sophomore season, had concussions not cut his promising career short. Moving down the depth chart, the Frogs are very short on game experience.

Sophomore Cliff Murphy appeared in a few games last fall, but did not register any official defensive statistics. Austin Terry redshirted in his first season on campus. Both of these guys have a prime opportunity to step up into a contributing role this spring before a promising class of incoming freshmen (Devonte Fields, Terrell Lathan and James McFarland...although he also may play linebacker) arrive for the fall.

Where does defensive end rank in terms of positions that you are worried about for the coming season? Who do you see becoming the starting bookend opposite Maponga, and which younger guys do you think will end up providing quality depth in 2012?

Pictorial Illustration of the Investigation

Narcotics Task Force Head Boss Chief: Go bust the Zetas, we need to infiltrate their organization at the highest levels

Narcotics Taskforce Deputies: Gotcha boss

At least one of these lovely ladies has bummed Adderall at the library during finals.....or been involved in a hand-to-hand drug deal involving controlled substances in a drug free zone, right?

Morning Dump

Baseball:

Sophomore pitchers hope to deliver for TCU Star-Telegram

TCU-Ole Miss preview gofrogs.com


The non-issue "issue" TCU is having to deal with:

High School coaches voice support for TCU football program Star-Telegram

Bud Kennedy tells it like it is Star-Telegram

Galloway: TCU rejected taking the easy way out Star-Telegram

Highland Park family weighing options after son mistakenly linked to TCU busts by mistake Dallas Morning News

Experts praise TCU's crisis management Star-Telegram

So maybe those TCU football player drug test failure estimates were a bit off Houston Press