After Early-Season Woes, Longhorns Prove They're Headed in the Right Direction

There were a lot of smiling faces following the Texas Longhorns' 28-7 win over Oklahoma State. And some that resembled a look of relief.

The Longhorns' early-season woes sparked questions about the direction of the Texas football program. And after Kansas State handed Texas its fifth loss of the year, many signs pointed to Charlie Strong's first season in Austin ending on Thanksgiving night without a bowl bid.

But the Longhorns had a different outlook of their future.

"Everybody just wrote us off," Strong said. "I told the guys don't let outside forces control this football team."

The Longhorns took their coach's words to heart.

Texas overcame the lethargic start of the season by winning two consecutive games, including an upset over then-No. 23 West Virginia, giving the Longhorns the first signature win of Strong's short Texas tenure.

But there was another goal Texas needed to reach: becoming bowl-eligible.

The Longhorns achieved that goal Saturday night in Stillwater.

"I challenged our players early in the week and said we have two games left and we need to get to a bowl game," Strong said. "We owe it to ourselves and to our seniors for the leadership that they've provided the last few weeks. We've come a long ways, and to get bowl-eligible speaks volumes of the hard work that they've put in."

Texas has proven it can be a tough team, which is something Strong has strived for since he was hired in January. But Saturday's win over Oklahoma State showed a new level of toughness—aside from the way the Longhorns manhandled the Cowboys.

In years past, Texas has not always fared well in cold weather conditions. One could almost guarantee the Longhorns would struggle against their opponents if the temperature dropped below 50 degrees.

The weather was expected to be in the low-40s to mid-30s Saturday night in Stillwater. Some players showed up to Boone Pickens Stadium wearing extra layers, which was considered the norm for many Longhorns from previous seasons.

Little did they know Strong had a different agenda for his team.

"They thought it was cold and I told them it isn't cold," Strong said. "The linemen had on tights and I said, 'We're going to win the game up front so take it off, you're not going to wear it.' The skill guys had pouches on and I said, 'Only the quarterback is going to wear a pouch, take it off.'

"We were going to go out there with the right mindset. The weather was not going to be an issue, we were going to go out there and win this game."

Strong was not going to allow his team to balk at playing in cold weather, and the Longhorns realized their coach was right.

"He challenges us as men and challenges us as a team," senior wide receiver John Harris said of Strong's no-tights policy in Stillwater. "It's fun to have a coach like that."

The ability to fight through cold weather is a small achievement and will likely go unmentioned moving forward.

But what has been unfolding for Texas is something more than a team fighting for bowl eligibility, or a team proving it can suck it up in cold weather conditions. It's proof the Longhorns have bought into Strong and are headed in the right direction.

Year one of the Strong era has been anything but ordinary. The first-year head coach demonstrated he was going to do things his way when he dismissed nine players for violating his core values—honesty, treat women with respect, no drugs/stealing/weapons.

Critics questioned if Strong was too strong for Texas and if the perceived disciplinarian side of the coach would cause him to lose his locker room.

The questions were at an all-time high when the Longhorns were 3-5 with four games remaining, including two Top 25-ranked opponents and two road games in hostile environments.

But while most people were writing off the Longhorns, the team was rallying together, fighting for one another and ready to prove the 2014 season would not end in November.

"We just came together as a group," senior defensive end Cedric Reed said of the team buying in over the last three games. "We fought through the wounds and we made it. We're bowl-eligible, but we still have another game on the schedule."

The fight is not over. Texas will face No. 5 TCU on Thanksgiving night. The regular-season finale will be a difficult task, and the Longhorns will likely be home underdogs to the Horned Frogs.

But if Strong's team has proven anything over the last three weeks, it's that the Longhorns will not go out without a fight, and it's far too early to count out Texas.

"We've been resilient all year. We could have easily packed it up three games ago and said we weren't going to finish out the season. But these guys continued to fight," senior cornerback Quandre Diggs said. "It's a great opportunity for us to continue to build on and to get this thing going in the right direction for next year."

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.