The Oregon State loss was tough to swallow for the Arizona football team, but luckily for the Wildcats, they can use this weekend to wash it down with turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and pie.

Though most players are heading home for the holiday, that didn’t stop special teams coordinator Jeff Hammerschmidt from inviting some of the players over for a Thanksgiving feast.

“”I think (kicker Jason) Bondzio is the only one coming,”” Hammerschmidt joked. “”I invited everybody so it shows you how much they like me. A lot of the players are going home so it’s nice to get away, but we’ve invited all the guys to everyone’s house.

“”Bondzio is the only guy with no friends, so he will come hang out with me,”” Hammerschmidt added with a chuckle. “”We will probably talk about his red shoes.””

In all fairness to Bondzio, the kicker had a valid excuse.

“”There were no flights leaving after practice, and there really is no point of flying home on Thanksgiving morning and having to fly back out Saturday,”” Bondzio said. “”I am normally with my family, but this year it didn’t work out that way. I am happy I have a place to have a good meal.””

Here’s how some of the coaches and players plan on spending the time off for the holidays:

Head coach Mike Stoops: “”Shoot, I’m just going to spend the day with family. I’ll probably watch a little bit of (the ASU-UCLA game). I’ll get to see it Saturday.””

O-coordinator Sonny Dykes: “”Just taking it easy, trying to see my daughter a little bit and watch a lot of football. I’m sure I’ll spend quite a bit of time thinking about Arizona State as well, so I’m excited about some down time but also looking forward to getting back out and practicing again. When you have a bad loss like that, it makes you want to get out and practice.””

D-coordinator Mark Stoops: “”We’re just getting together with the family at our house. My wife will be doing the cooking, and we’ll be having some of the players over so it’ll be fun.””

RB Nic Grigsby: “”I’ll be eating dinner with my boy Toby, Sean and their family. I’ll be going to their house because I can’t go home. (Home is) only California but I gotta be back Saturday and that’s a waste of money flying and driving for just those days.””

WR Mike Thomas: “”There’s no point in spending all that money to go back to Texas for two days. I’d get there and hop right back on a plane and come back. I might as well save that $500, $600.””

WR Delashuan Dean: “”I’m not really gonna be thinking about football too much. We don’t play until next week so I’m just gonna relax and eat a whole bunch of food. I was actually thinking about going down (to the ASU-UCLA game) because my cousin (Jamarr Robinson) plays linebacker for ASU, so I was thinking about going to the game but I’m not really sure yet.””

Wide receiver Terrell Turner: “”I’ll be flying back to Texas that morning to see the family. I’ll get there about 11 and then pass out on my stomach by 12 (laughs) and watch the games. Mom and my cousin are cooking. My brother’s girlfriend might make something. I’ve never met her so I don’t know if she can cook, but I guess we’ll see.””

-Brian Kimball and Bobby Stover contributed reporting.