He redshirted during his first year at TCU in 2003 and did not see any playing time in 2004, either. During this time, he switched to defensive end, his current position. In 2005, he began the year 3rd on the depth chart, but impressed coaches enough during fall practice that he became a starter before the season opener, a 17-10 TCU win at Oklahoma. That year, he led the Mountain West Conference with nine sacks, and was named 1st Team All-MWC. As a junior in 2006, he repeated as 1st Team All-MWC, as did the Frogs' other defensive end, Tommy Blake. Heading into his senior year, Ortiz has been named to the All-Texas College Team by Dave Campbell's Texas Football.
