College football recruiting impact: Florida, Michigan Week 8’s biggest winners

While Detroit (Mi.) Cass Tech offensive lineman David Dawson did enjoy his visit to Gainesville to take in Florida’s win over South Carolina, he denied rumors of a commitment.

Expect Dawson to take a trip to Alabama and potentially a few other SEC schools as well.

Speaking of the Florida game, Florida’s commitments did their best to recruit uncommitted prospects, and the atmosphere was again excellent in the Swamp according to various accounts. Unfortunately for Florida, Clemson receiver commitment Demarcus Robinson did not make the trip.

West Virginia’s embarrassing no-show against Kansas State won’t help recruiting. Recruits pick up on the attitude of fans and the team, and the negative attitude due to the meltdown in Morgantown was hard for miss for recruits.

But it wasn’t all bad. William Crest, a top QB out of Maryland for the class of 2014, still has strong interest in West Virginia:

“The trip went well,” said the 6-foot-3, 170-pounder, who has visited multiple times previously. “They took the loss, but overall, it went well. It was a night game, so it was pretty interesting.”

As the game turned from a great atmosphere to a silent blowout, Mountaineer fans flooded the message boards with their thoughts on the game. Crest also gave his take.

“It seemed like they were giving it their all, but just couldn’t click,” Crest said about the offense. “And the defense needs some work. Seriously.” -- 247sports ($)

Corey Clement, a four-star running back recruit, decommitted from the Pitt Panthers while on his official visit to Wisconsin. The move was expected. He has not yet committed to the Badgers, but many are expecting him to do so. This battle is extremely interesting, as Pitt’s coaching staff consists mostly of coaches who were at Wisconsin during the 2011 season and followed new coach Paul Chryst to Pittsburgh.

On Saturday night, though, Miami did what it needed to do. It showed that the program can be exciting, and it showed at several positions (defensive line and receiver, specifically) that playing time can be had right away.

Michigan finally stopped its losing streak to Michigan State, and the Wolverines picked up a promising offensive tackle in the process in junior Denzel Ward:

Ward, a 6-foot-9, 295-pound offensive tackle from Chicago (Ill.) Hales Franciscan, chose Michigan over an offer from Purdue.

Several other schools in the region were showing interest in Ward including Ohio State, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois.

Ward told 247Sports, “Tradition and organization” were the reasons he chose the Wolverines.

And while he didn’t pull the trigger, Michigan also impressed 2014 offensive lineman Mason Cole of Tampa (Fla.) East Lake High.

Despite the loss to LSU, Texas A&M seems to have impressed receiver Ricky Seals-Jones during his visit. ESPN($) spoke with his father.

“They were glad to see him come to the game and hoped he enjoyed himself at the game,” Chester Jones said. “We even talked to the basketball coach, met him on the field, met his wife. He came by and said hello and told Ricky that he hopes he has a chance to get him and have him come down that way and help him out. He’s a nice guy. We met him in the summer, we met him a couple of times.”

That’s important, given that the Aggies and Tigers are in a major fight for the former Texas Longhorns commitment.

Indiana scored a major commitment Sunday in Rivals four-star defensive end David Kenny III, of Indianapolis. The recruiting win came over Iowa, from whom Kenny decommitted earlier in the week. According to Kenny’s head coach, distance was a factor.

“A lot of it is Indiana just being close to home and his parents being able to see his games,” Moyers said. “I think Indiana has eight home games next year, and his mom and dad being able to see him play in Bloomington eight times as opposed to travel maybe eight times to Iowa City. Plus, David looks at Indiana as an up-and-coming program with Coach (Kevin) Wilson and he thinks he can have an early impact on what they’re trying to do.”

Hacked! Always, always claim “hacked.” Elijah Daniel, a top defensive end recruit and Clemson commitment, claimed Saturday that his Twitter account had been hacked after someone apparently sent out a tweet that he was decommitting.

Is Ashard Jackson still committed to Auburn? Yes. After deciding to decommit, Jackson then elected to remain committed after speaking with Auburn’s coaching staff. The athletic tight end still plans to visit Florida State and potentially other SEC schools as well.

Here is an interesting Tweet:

That’s Marquez White, a talented cornerback recruit out of Dothan (Al.). He is considered a soft commitment to the Seminoles. Apparently Amari Cooper, Alabama’s four-star freshman sensation, has him thinking about playing receiver. Of course, a lot of talented cornerbacks wanted to play receiver in college and made a lot of money playing defensive back, but this is worth keeping an eye on.