Texas Needs Different Mindset to Upset Oklahoma, Turn Season Around

When Charlie Strong took the podium following Texas' loss to Baylor, he said something that caught the attention of the room: "We don't know how to win yet."

The Longhorns' 2-3 record proves just that.

Taylor Gaspar

"Finish" signs were plastered on the walls of the football facilities leading up to the Baylor game, but the Longhorns were not able to finish with a win.

In fact, the team has not been able to finish many games this season. Losing has almost become second nature to many players on the Longhorns roster, and the senior leaders want to change that.

When running back Malcolm Brown was in high school, he said he never entered a game feeling he was going to lose.

But he told his teammates he does not feel enough guys on the roster have that mentality in 2014.

"I can't even tell you any game we went in and I wasn't like, 'We're about to smash this team,'" Brown said. "I don't feel like that about this team, and we need to get that type of confidence."

Brown came from Steele High School (Cibolo, Texas), where his team was 44-9 in his three years as a starter. 

But his mindset has not changed. And other players on the team feel the same way.

"I expect to go out and win, but I don't think we have all of the guys expecting to go out and win," cornerback Quandre Diggs said. "I know guys are young, but that's no excuse. My freshman year, I had that mentality, but I guess everybody doesn't have that dog in them."

From the play on the field, it appears some Longhorns may be lacking that "dog" mentality.

"Some people are expecting, 'Oh, something is going to go wrong.' We may be playing well and something's going to go wrong instead of going out with the mindset that we're going to completely demolish this team," fifth-year senior linebacker Jordan Hicks said. "There's people who lack the confidence of we're going to go out there and smash opponents."

Defensive coordinator Vance Bedford understands what it takes to beat Oklahoma because Bedford was a part of four winning teams in the Red River Shootout.

And he still takes the game personally.

"If you want to talk, we can talk. If you want to fight, we can fight. That's what the Red River Shootout is," Bedford said. "They're coming into our state, the state of Texas. It's Texas pride. It's Texas attitude. That's how I feel about it. I'm trying to make sure my players feel that way."

Still, pulling an upset against No. 11 Oklahoma will not come easy.

The Sooners are coming off of a loss to TCU, and Bob Stoops' teams have never lost back-to-back conference games during his 16-year tenure coaching Oklahoma.

The opening spread for the 109th Red River Showdown had the Longhorns as a 14.5-point underdog to the Sooners, according to OddsShark.com. Nobody is really giving Strong's team a chance in this game.

But this is familiar territory for Texas.

Last season, the Longhorns entered the Cotton Bowl as an underdog but had the mindset that losing is not an option.

"There was something different about last year, as opposed to the few years before that when I was playing—I could just feel it," senior wide receiver Jaxon Shipley said. "If we come out with that same fire, I think we'll be good to go."

The Longhorns did not have a perfect scenario heading into the Oklahoma game last season. But the team knew it could win the game.

Texas has to have a win-at-all-cost mentality Saturday to avoid a fourth loss of the season.

"Guys were definitely motivated and ready to go out there," junior running back Johnathan Gray said of last season's game. "That's what we have to have this year. We went out there with a mentality that we have to win this game and it's a big game for everybody. That's the same kind of mentality we have this year, and we have to step out there on Saturday and do it."

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.

Taylor Gaspar is Bleacher Report's featured columnist covering the Texas Longhorns. Follow Taylor on Twitter: @Taylor_Gaspar.