Oregon center Hroniss Grasu arrived earlier than most of his team in San Antonia on Wednesday in preparation for the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 30. When the rest of his team showed up at their hotel, Grasu spoke with the media about what he did earlier on Christmas Day, his team’s offensive weapons and Oregon’s motivation for their first non-BCS bowl game since 2008.

Does it feel different arriving to a non-BCS bowl game?

“It felt different for me because I came here early,” Grasu said. “I was at the hotel before pretty much anyone that’s here, so that’s the only difference for me. But the Alamo Bowl, we’re very honored. It’s a blessing to play in this bowl game and play against Texas. It’s still a big game.”

What did you do while you waited for your team today?

“I walked around with Hamani (Stevens) trying to find some place to eat,” Grasu said. “I didn’t realize it was Christmas until I saw McDonald’s was closed.”

Did you find anything to eat?

“I got something the restaurant down here (in the hotel),” Grasu said.

Is motivation an issue for this team?

“Not at all,” Grasu said. “We understand that it’s their head coach’s last game. It’s going to be very emotional. We’re in their home state. It’s going to be a home game for them but that just makes us want to be more focused. Just go there and execute our own game plan and not worry about what’s going on outside of the program. If we can take care of that, we’ll take care of business.”

On Oregon’s offensive weapons

“We have a lot of weapons on this team,” Grasu said. “We’ve known that all year long and now a lot of guys are back and healthy. On the offensive line, we have to do a great job of opening the running lanes and giving Marcus (Mariota) a lot of protection and everyone knows what those guys in the backfield can do for us.”

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