give Orgeron and Ensminger the benefit of the doubt if they wanted to salvage their season. Now they have proof it can work.It was such a scramble getting everything together. But the coache

FORT WORTH, Texas -- With all four spots in the chase for the Xfinity series championship open going into the final elimination race, Erik Jones wont need a season-best fifth victory to advance.And he probably wont be racing for it either, with the focus shifting to points at the top of the standings after Sprint Cup regular Kyle Larson won the Xfinity race at Texas on Saturday.Jones was tops among the eight Xfinity drivers still in title contention, finishing fourth behind Larson, Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick. The 20-year-old is third in points, 10 behind Daniel Suarez, who has a one-point lead over Elliott Sadler.Because none of the Xfinity contenders won, all four spots are open next weekend in Phoenix. For the finale at Homestead, no Cup drivers will be on the grid with the title on the line.The toughest part of our chase is racing the Cup guys, Jones said. Had there been no Cup guys in the race, we would have won today and advanced. Yeah, were still going to chase a win (in Phoenix). Youve still got to be points racing and thinking about advancing at the same time.Larson held off Keselowski for his first Xfinity win in Texas and second of the season despite a brush with the wall with about five laps remaining. He said he should have won the fall Xfinity race in Texas a year ago, but cut a tire late in the race.I looked up in the mirror and I was like, `Ah, great, here he comes. Hes probably going to have a big run, Larson said about Keselowski, who closed within a couple of car lengths on the final lap. Actually, after that, I thought it tightened my car up and made it easier to drive up there.Larson led for the final 30 laps after Keselowski dominated most the race, leading 145.Suarez finished fifth despite a battery problem that had him worried about finishing the race. A bad alternator forced him to cut power less than halfway through, and he said he managed to keep his main battery alive until about final 40 laps.We were a little lucky that we had the issue right in the middle of the race, Suarez said. Maybe 20, 30 more laps and who knows if we were going to finish the race or not.While Suarez and Sadler are separated by a point at the top, the same is true for the final qualifying spot, barring a win from those with a bigger deficit.Blake Koch finished 14th -- seventh among the eight title contenders -- and is fourth in points and 16 behind Suarez. Justin Allgaier, who finished 10th after spinning out 72 laps into the race, is another point back.Ryan Reed, Darrell Wallace Jr. and Brendan Gaughan are all at least five points out of the final qualifying spot. But any of the eight can get into the final four with a win in Phoenix.At that point it is your whole season, Reed said. There is nothing left to lose there. 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Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. Patrick Roy Avalanche Jersey .Y. - Jerome Samson scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the St. BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU interim coach Ed Orgeron is determined not to let the Tigers stagnate offensively and wont rest on the units school record-setting performance last weekend.Were going to expand on our package, obviously, said Orgeron, whose Tigers are scheduled to visit No. 18 Florida on Saturday. Were not going to show them the same thing and run the same plays this week and give them what they expect.While Orgeron has spent his career as a defensive coach, the Louisiana native wound up in charge last week in part because the Tigers offense was widely seen as too predictable under Les Miles, who was fired four games into his 12th season at LSU.The initial tweaks made by Orgeron and his newly appointed offensive coordinator, Steve Ensminger, paid considerable dividends. For all the lopsided victories LSU has posted in eight-plus decades of competition in the Southeastern Conference, the Tigers had never piled up as many yards in a league game as the 634 they had in a 42-7 victory over Missouri last Saturday.Ensminger, Orgeron said, is going to make some changes this week. Well see what we can do. But also, were very effective in doing the things that we did, so we dont want to completely get rid of it.The initial transformation wasnt radical, Orgeron said. Some of the statistics from last weekends victory back that up. The main source of LSUs dominance was its deep, dynamic and powerful running game, which accounted for 418 yards -- even without the services of hobbled star running back Leonard Fournette.LSU had two 100-yard rushers, with Derrius Guice gaining a career-high 163 and Darrel Williams finishing with a career-high 130. Nick Brosette added 73 yards on only five carries.The formations and personnel packages were different, however. For example, LSU ran a number of plays out of four-wide-receiver sets, rather than the traditional I-formation that allowed defenses to pack the middle of the field.With defenses spread out, LSUs ball carriers met less resistance at the line of scrimmage and used their athleticism to escape tackles as they reached the secondary. LSU had 11 running plays go for more than 10 yyards, including six for 20 or more.ddddddddddddIt was a great job by Steve Ensminger calling the plays. I like the diversity, Orgeron said. I liked the way he mixed his personnel. ... The goal was to be very efficient and be multiple, put the ball in our playmakers hands and (in) space and let them play. He did a very good job of that.Guice raved about the quicker tempo with which plays came into the huddle and were executed. He said the whole offense seemed to have a good rhythm, particularly when it came to getting off the ball and initiating blocks. Meanwhile, Guice thought the coaching staff effectively used substitutions to help players remain fresh.The offensive line did a great job setting up cutting lanes. The receivers did a good job blocking downfield. There was better communication, Guice said. Rotating backs was good. It is always good to have fresh backs.Quarterback Danny Etling said the transition last week wasnt easy, but players had to give Orgeron and Ensminger the benefit of the doubt if they wanted to salvage their season. Now they have proof it can work.It was such a scramble getting everything together. But the coaches put together a good plan, Etling said. What happened last week is good for our confidence.The passing game also improved, but less dramatically. Etling had more success throwing short than deep.We took shots. We didnt hit them. But I like it, because its just going show the defense that were going to stretch the field, Orgeron said. Were going to continue to do that.Now LSUs offensive coaches and their players face the challenge of producing on the road against an old rival in Florida that sees itself as a contender in the SEC East. And Orgeron has said it looks like theyll have to do it without two starters on the offensive line -- guard Will Clapp (arm) and tackle Toby Weathersby (ankle).They have a tough job this week, Orgeron said. Its going to be a lot tougher defense than we played last week.---AP college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '