Rob Smedley says the resurfaced Spielberg circuit was a factor in Williams pretty mediocre showing at the Austrian Grand Prix.?Austria had been one of Williams strongest venues over the past two seasons, with Felipe Massa taking pole position in 2014 and back-to-back podium finishes. Despite high expectations going into the weekend the team had to settle for ninth position with Valtteri Bottas, while Massa retired with a brake issue with ten laps remaining.The Red Bull Ring had been resurfaced in the weeks leading up to the race and Smedley, the teams head of performance, thinks this was a major reason the team struggled to match its previous form.It was not where we need to be, Smedley said. It was just pretty mediocre throughout, we didnt have the pace in the car itself. Valtteri wasnt able to make the tyres last, which is a little bit strange for him, but even without that, the pace in the car just wasnt there.With the asphalt changes they have made here, I think its a different circuit. We need to try and understand it, we need more expertise in that area and to improve our knowledge of tyre science.Williams race hopes had not been helped by Massa needing to start from the pit lane ahead of the race after the team found damage on the updated front wing the Brazilian had been running.We noticed that there was some structural damage to it, on the mainplane. We may have been able to do some of the race on it, but we werent prepared to take that risk.The safety of our drivers and our people is paramount so we took the decision we would change that front wing and upon doing that, we rolled back to the old spec. Even though we had a downgrade in performance, we had broken the parc ferme rules and we had to start from the pitlane.Smedley believes the damage was a fatigue issue caused by the kerbs at Turn 2. Austrias kerbs had been a controversial subject throughout the weekend after causing a number of suspension failures in practice.One positive for the team is that it continued its incredible run of lightning fast pit stops, topping the charts for the ninth race in a row with Massas 2.2s stop. Pit stops were an area the team struggled with in previous seasons.? NMD Replica .C. at the helm of the top team in the Eastern Conference. His tenure as the GM in Vancouver was all too brief. Though he led the Canucks to what was then a franchise record-shattering campaign in just his second season, Nonis was gone and replaced one year later. NMD For Sale . -- Jimmy Walkers first PGA Tour trophy came with a special gift tucked inside. https://www.cheapnmdoutlet.com/ . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed. NMD Clearance . That left plenty of energy for pitching books and swatting away free agency questions. Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks avenged an embarrassing home loss with a rout of their own, beating the Boston Celtics 114-88 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory. NMD Online .com) - Christian Ponder will get another chance to prove himself for the Minnesota Vikings, with head coach Leslie Frazier announcing Wednesday that the struggling quarterback will start this weekends game against the Green Bay Packers. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Its been a month since Syracuse coach Dino Babers delivered a stirring postgame locker room speech that went viral on social media after the most important victory of his first year with the Orange.But since that upset win over then-No. 17 Virginia Tech, Our house! has become Their house. Syracuse lost its next home game -- 35-20 last week to North Carolina State to fall to 2/3 in the Carrier Dome. Now, the Orange have a chance to reclaim their house and send their seniors out with a victory when they close their home schedule on Saturday against No. 17 Florida State (7-3, 4-3 ACC, No. 17 CFP).Its an important game for both teams.The Seminoles have won four of five and are striving to keep the momentum going to reach an upper-tier bowl game, while the Orange (4-6, 2-4 ACC) are simply trying to qualify for the postseason with only two games left in the regular season.I dont settle for anything. Im not going to settle, Babers said. So, there is no bone in my body that says, hey, Im looking forward to next year. My whole task is finding ... a way to win now. And if we cant, then at least we know we did everything we can possibly do.Syracuse has been hit hard by injuries, and starting quarterback Eric Dungey tops the list. Sidelined by a hard shoulder-head hit two weeks ago in a 54-0 loss at Clemson, he was listed as questionable against N.C. State, did not play, and was still awaiting results of a second battery of tests. Hes listed as doubtful for Florida State.The Seminoles arent taking any chances.Weve got to anticipate Dungey will play, Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said. You have to anticipate for Dungey to play, and you have to look at the other guys and prepare for them. It makes it difficult.Other things to know when No. 17 Florida State plays at Syracuse on Saturday:COOKS CORNER: FSU tailback Dalvin Cook needs just 19 yards to eclipse Warrick Dunns 20-year-old record (3,959 yards) and become the schools career leading rusher. He also needs 59 yard to reach 4,000, which would make him the sixth back in ACC history to accomplish the feat and the first as a junior.Ive been thinking about it all week. Theyve been reminding me in the locker room, Cook said. HHopefully, we get it over with fast.ddddddddddddCook has 19 career 100-yard games, and the first came two years ago in the Carrier Dome against the Orange. He rushed for 122 yards and one TD on 23 carries and still calls it his coming-out game.SUPER SUB: Last year Syracuse walk-on QB Zack Mahoney started four games in place of Dungey, who suffered at least one concussion and was hit hard several times. Mahoney played so well, especially against LSU and Clemson, that he was awarded a scholarship for this season. He did OK against the Wolfpack, finishing 13 of 24 for 190 yards and one touchdown with an interception.I think Zack played extremely well, Babers said. Its not about what Zack does for our football team. Its what the other 21 guys have to do. Anytime you lose a person of Erics caliber, you dont expect the back-up guy to come up and play at that same level.DEFENSE RULES: FSU is coming off a dominant defensive performance in a 45-7 win over Boston College . The starters held BC scoreless and allowed just 86 total yards (57 rushing, 29 passing), and three first downs while forcing nine straight 3-and-outs.I think we have a high ceiling, LB Matthew Thomas said. We go out there, play how we want to play. Syracuse, they shouldnt score on us if we do what we want to do, so its all on us.RECEIVERS EMERGING: Auden Tate (101 yards vs. Boston College) and Nyqwan Murray (153 yards vs. N.C. State) have started to emerge as viable passing options in the Seminoles offense. With Jesus Wilson out for the remainder of the season, both sophomores have seen their snaps increase and could have big games against a Syracuse secondary that is 13th in passing defense in the ACC. Florida State has had four players with 100-yard receiving games this season.RED ZONE SUCCESS: Florida State has converted its last 19 opportunities in the red zone, including 15 touchdowns.---AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy in Florida contributed to this report.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25---Follow Kekis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Greek1947 ' ' '