Florida State junior P.J. Williams, one of the nation's top cornerbacks, will miss Saturday's game against FCS foe The Citadel because of a nagging hamstring injury.
Williams missed a lot of practice time during fall camp because of the issue with his hamstring, but he did play in last week's opener against Oklahoma State; he made one of the game's key plays when he forced and recovered a fumble after he sent Oklahoma State quarterback J.W. Walsh into the air on a tackle.
"Too much wear and tear from that last game," FSU coach Jimbo Fisher told reporters Thursday. "We'll have to sit him this week."
Senior Nick Waisome, who started during the 2012 season before losing his job to Williams last season, likely will take the vacant starting spot Saturday.
The Citadel has a ground-based offense, so Williams' coverage skills wouldn't have been tested by the Bulldogs. Given the gulf separating the teams in terms of talent, Williams likely wouldn't have played much anyway, as it seems likely most of FSU's starters will be on the bench by early in the third quarter. Williams sitting out gives him two weeks to recover, as FSU is off Sept. 13 before playing host to Clemson on Sept. 20 in one of the most important ACC games of the season.
Chris Casher, a projected starter at outside linebacker, missed the season opener while tending to what the school has called an "academic-related matter," but he will be eligible to play on Saturday, Florida State announced on Friday. However, the school also announced redshirt freshman linebacker Matthew Thomas, who was a five-star recruit, has been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules.
Over the summer, Casher faced a university code of conduct hearing resulting from the Jameis Winston sexual-assault investigation. At the time, Casher was said to face possible discipline on allegations of multiple violations of the school's code of conduct.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
