The Oregon football team arrived in San Antonio, Texas Wednesday in preparation for the Valero Alamo Bowl on Dec. 30.

Many of the Oregon football players traveled to San Antonio from their respective hometowns after visiting for the holidays and the academic break.

“Everyone that was expected to be here is here,” head coach Mark Helfrich said. “We didn’t have any academic issues or anything else discipline-related.”

When asked about how he motivates his players to play in a non-BCS game Helfrich said, “It’s a chance to compete. Our guys are excited to play, if there would have been any evidence of that it would of shown up already in our preparation.”

Helfrich said the team will prepare similar to last week with the goal to get better everyday. He also added that the team’s enthusiasm and effort has been good, but the execution is what needs to improve in order to beat a team like Texas.

“We are going to fine-tune … but there is always a little tweak here and there,” Helfrich said.

Helfrich said that many of his players are familiar with members of the Texas team from being highly recruited, camps or all-star games.

Helfrich spoke highly of San Antonio as a city and shared that he has been to the area before for recruiting and has family that lives close by.

“It’s a great city and a great area…it will be fun for everyone, but it will be a lot more fun if we win a game,” Helfrich said.

The Ducks will begin practice tomorrow morning at Alamo Heights High School.

After practice, selected Oregon team members will go over to visit the Center for the Intrepid.

Follow Beth Maiman on Twitter @bethamaiman