Player of the Week Teamkong It was not the Washburn Icabods who made Pitt State scrap their game plan, Mother Nature did. Working as the great equalizer, the wet, torn up field at the Moore Bowl tried like crazy to slow the Gorillas.  Going into the game, Pitt had a huge advantage with team speed.  They were the leading passing team in the MIAA.  But the conditions seemed to make everyone on the field virtually the same speed.   This factor played right into the hand of this weeks Teamkong Player of the Week, Neal Philpot. The fact that Philpot is bigger than EVERY member of the Icabod defense, except  one, the 6’4”, 250 pound Junior quarterback from Norton used his size and strength to his advantage on Saturday.  He rushed, he passed, he received, and he blocked.  The performance earned him this weeks Teamkong Player of the Week award. Already the career leader for rushing yards for a quarterback at Pitt State (2301 yards), Philpot turned in his second best career rushing day with 198 yards on 23 carries.  Along with his 47 passing yards, and 2 receiving yards, Philpot now has 5355 yards of total offense for his career.  This performance moved him  within striking distance of being the career leader for total offense.   He needs 258 yards of total offense to pass leader Mark Hittner’s 5612 yards. Hittner starred for the Gorillas from 1976-1979. It’s hard to believe this is the first week Philpot has earned the award.  In the middle of his third season as the starting quarterback, Philpot has been sensational all season.  While he has put up great numbers thus far, he has done a tremendous job of divvying up the football for our other weapons. Another factor  which cannot be missed is his leadership this year.  While it is evident he works hard, and leads by example; he is also a vocal leader and had obviously earned his teams respect.  This team is special for many reasons.  Everyone knows it is more athletic and has as much talent as we have seen for quite some time.  The team is fast.  But this team has character, and great leadership all the way around. There also is a core of upperclassmen who all have their eyes set on the same prize. They have the team focused.   They know what they want, and they realize to get it they have to do it together.