TCU’s Devonte Fields earned Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year honors in 2012. (Max Faulkner/ZUMAPRESS.com)

By Zac Ellis

TCU sophomore defensive end Devonte Fields has been suspended for the first two games of the 2013 season, the team announced Wednesday.

In a short release, the Horned Frogs said Fields’ suspension comes on the heels of a “violation of university and team policy.” TCU coach Gary Patterson offered no comment on the suspension.

Field will miss TCU’s season-opening matchup with LSU at Cowboys Stadium on Aug. 31 and the team’s home opener against Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 7. The suspension leaves the Horned Frogs with even less experience across the defensive line, where they had already lost starter Stansly Maponga to the NFL.

Fields started all 13 games for TCU as a freshman last season and recorded 53 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss and 10 sacks, garnering Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year honors and landing on the All-Big 12 First Team. But Fields struggled this spring and had been one of the players singled out by Patterson for his efforts during workouts.

Casey Pachall has left TCU for the semester to enroll in an inpatient rehab facility. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

Casey Pachall, a second-year starting quarterback at TCU and a favorite of this blog for hair-related reasons, has played his last snap for the Horned Frogs in 2012. TCU coach Gary Patterson announced Tuesday that Pachall is entering an inpatient treatment facility following his arrest last Thursday on suspicion of DWI. Patterson left open the possibility of Pachall’s return to school and the team in the spring of 2013.

Pachall has been in the news for substance abuse-related issues before. During the wide-ranging drug investigation that resulted in the arrest and subsequent dismissal of four of his TCU teammates, he admitted to police that he’d failed a team-administered drug test in February. Pachall underwent drug and alcohol education classes and didn’t miss any playing time.

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• Bleep, bloop, Buckeyes. Ohio State’s marching band did a video game-themed halftime show, and if you haven’t seen it yet, be reassured: Your Monday is made.

If your heart doesn’t skip a beat at their Tetris formations, we cannot be friends. Sorry. [Via.]

• To the business at hand. The polls are out! What to do when three top-five teams get knocked out in the space of a single Saturday, including No. 4 LSU? Rank early Tigers opponent Washington No.13, among other atrocities, if you’re Glenn Guilbeau. Full AP Top 25 is here; the Biased And/Or Willfully Disinterested SIDs’ Poll can be found here.

• Injury report story hour. Missouri’s James Franklin will miss the Alabama game with an MCL injury, which is good news for James Franklin’s limbs and less good for his teammates.

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TCU offensive tackle Ty Horn was charged with one felony count and one misdemeanor count of delivery of marijuana. (US Presswire)

Ready for a little light afternoon reading about college football’s newest and highest-profile on-campus drug ring? Warrants and affidavits for the four TCU players (Tanner Brock, Devin Johnson, D.J. Yendry, Ty Horn) arrested in Wednesday’s drug bust are available for your perusal via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram‘s website, and the information, at the very least, seems to indicate that several more arrests could be on the way. Highlights from the court documents, including specific charges for all four players, include:

• OT Ty Horn: Charged with one felony count and one misdemeanor count of delivery of marijuana. According to the affidavit, an undercover Fort Worth police officer received a tip on Nov. 3, 2011, that Horn was involved in the sale of hydroponic marijuana “to college students and football players at Texas Christian University.” That same day, the officer purchased marijuana from Horn and Yendry at a private residence. On Nov. 7, the officer contacted Horn again, who then referred him to Yendry.

• DT D.J. Yendry:  Charged with four felony counts and two misdemeanor counts of delivery of marijuana. During the Nov. 7 meeting with the undercover officer, Yendry revealed that he was Horn’s supplier, sold the officer more marijuana, and inquired about the possibility of obtaining mushrooms for future sale. Yendry conducted two more sales with the officer during the month of November, according to the affidavit, and once in the month of December. In December, Yendry named Johnson as his supplier to the officer. On Jan. 19, 2012, the officer happened to contact Yendry at a time when Yendry’s stash was running low, and the officer was referred to Brock. Read More…