ss on their own mistakes and touting Orgerons credentials.C

BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU interim coach Ed Orgeron smiled patiently while fielding questions about his long-term future at LSU, and politely tried to steer the conversation toward Thursdays regular season finale at Texas A&M.We said in the beginning, let the chips fall where they may, Orgeron said Monday. Its getting close. We understand that. But we need to finish this job first.Orgeron added that he and LSU athletic director Joe Alleva havent discussed anything yet, but probably will after the game.Support for Orgeron, a Louisiana native raised in a heavily Cajun community southwest of New Orleans, grew considerably after LSU won the first three games of his tenure by lopsided margins. A 10-0 loss to Alabama hurt, but the Tigers were not widely expected to win that game and bounced back with a rout of Arkansas on the road.Yet Saturdays 16-10 loss to Florida was different. Odds makers had listed LSU as a two-touchdown favorite and the Tigers entered the game as a potential front-runner for the Southeastern Conferences Sugar Bowl bid. The Gators had a handful of starters injured, but took a tenuous lead in the second half and held on with a goal-line stand in the final seconds.Since then, several LSU players have taken it upon themselves to go into damage-control mode on behalf of the man they affectionately call Coach O, blaming the loss on their own mistakes and touting Orgerons credentials.Coach O will tell you it was all his fault on Saturday, but really it wasnt. It wasnt any one persons fault, said fullback J.D. Moore, who was stopped on a third-and-goal play from the 1 in the final minute, one play before Florida clinched the victory -- and the SEC East crown- by stopping running back Derrius Guice from the same distance.We are just as responsible as he is, Moore said. A lot of the plays we had called were the right plays and we just didnt execute it well. So for that to just be chalked up for him as a loss isnt fair.Moore and linebacker Donnie Alexander said they understood that the decision is out of their hands, so theyre trying to heed Orgerons call to focus on playing the Aggies. But Alexander added, Were all for coach O.If we had the choice, we would want to keep him here, continued Alexander, a junior middle linebacker who is slated to start in place of injured senior Kendell Beckwith. We only took two losses under Coach O and it wasnt like big losses to where we got blown out. It was like, missed keys or missed plays and stuff like that. Its not like hes doing anything wrong.LSU (6-4, 4-3 SEC) was 2-2 when Orgeron took over for Les Miles, who was fired following a loss at Auburn in late September.Alleva, who usually attends the head football coachs Monday luncheons, was not present this time. On Saturday, he said on an LSU Radio Network interview that there are a lot of great people interested in the LSU coaching job.Orgeron has been through this before, having taken over when Lane Kiffen was fired at Southern California in 2013 and coaching the Trojans to a 6-2 record, including a bowl victory, only to see USC hire someone else to replace him.The LSU coaching job is seen as one of the most desirable in college football, given the universitys ability to pay top dollar, its top-flight facilities, rabid fan base and the fact that it has no true in-state rival in the recruiting hotbed that is Louisiana.In recent months, Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher and Houston coach Tom Herman have been bombarded with questions about their interest in LSU. Other coaches who fit the mold of fielding modern, high-scoring offenses include West Virginias Dana Holgorsen and North Carolinas Larry Fedora.Fisher has a history at LSU, having served as Tigers offensive coordinator. But on Monday, Florida State President John Thrasher predicted that Fisher is going to stay at Florida State, adding, I know my coach.If theres something he wants, well look for it, but he hasnt given me any indication hes unhappy with anything, Thrasher added.Fisher meanwhile, said he was extremely happy at Florida State, when he was asked about how rumors of LSUs interest in him have affected his recruiting efforts.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 .---Gary Fineout and Joe Reedy of The Associated Press contributed to this report from Tallahassee, Florida. Ahmad Gooden Jersey . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. Alexander Johnson Jersey . 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Leon Smith is hopeful Andy Murray will play in Great Britains Davis Cup quarter-final against Serbia next weekend.The world No.2 was named in the team on Tuesday for the trip to Belgrade along with Kyle Edmund, Dan Evans, Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot.That will be cut to four ahead of the draw next Thursday, and captain Smith will fervently hope the missing member is not Murray as Britain look to continue their bid for a second successive title.The Scot has said he will play if fit after what he hopes will be a run to finals weekend at Wimbledon but it would make an already demanding schedule exceptionally gruelling.Murray would have to make a quick transition from grass to clay, and then adjust again to hard courts ahead of the defence of his Olympic title and the US Open next month.Smith said: Hes named in the team, which is already a show of his commitment, like hes always had for us. I cant say how anyones going to feel, depending on what happens this week. Hes said himself if hes fit and healthy then hell play, and thats certainly what were all hoping for.I know from the years gone by that Davis Cup is really important to him. Its one of the things he really likes playing in. Its clearly one of the events that motivates him.He enjoys being part of the team, he enjoys the people that are involved in it, the atmosphere is amazing. So theres all those elements that means it remains an important part of his schedule.Edmund is nailed on to be second singles player but it was a little bit of a surprise that Evans was named as back-up rather than James Ward.Evans is in great form having reached the third round of Wimbledon but skipped the clay-court season altogether and said last week that he been trying to persuade Smith to select Ward.Smith said: Although clay is not the surface that he would choose to play on, hes playing very, veryy well.dddddddddddd Hes just made the third round here.Ive got a lot of confidence in him when it comes to Davis Cup. I think he deserves to be there. And in Kyle Edmund weve got someone whos very, very dangerous on clay as well.Playing Serbia away on clay is an extremely tough task on paper but the hosts will field a weakened side at the Tasmajdan Stadium.Novak Djokovic finally confirmed after his loss to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon what has long been suspected, that he will not be playing, and Serbian No.2 Viktor Troicki is also skipping the tie.But they still have another top-100 player in Dusan Lajovic, a former top-10 player coming back from a long injury absence in Janko Tipsarevic and highly experienced doubles campaigner Nenad Zimonjic.Smith is not totally counting out Djokovic, and he said: Im not saying its a bluff but people can change their mind. You can change two players up to an hour before the draw so its still possible.We go to Belgrade and, whoever turns out for them, they are going to be tough. Its going to be very, very hot, 35 degrees plus, its on clay, its their chosen surface, their home fans.Theyll be lifted by everything, theyre playing against the defending champions. Its going to be very difficult.Smith, meanwhile, revealed the Lawn Tennis Association is still hopeful British No.2 two Aljaz Bedene will one day be allowed to play for his adopted country.The 26-year-old, who played three ties for his native country Slovenia and is therefore ineligible, lost his latest appeal in March.Smith said: Theres a lot on just now since the last decision for us to look at and start preparing again and figure out the best strategy, but its definitely something that were continuing to look into