PHILADELPHIA -- Jim Kubiak, who added to his collection of Naval Academy passing records yesterday by throwing for 361 yards against Army, found no personal satisfaction in the accomplishment.
The senior from Buffalo, who compiled 17 school records in his three-plus seasons as a starter, had led the Midshipmen to a 24-3 victory over Army as a freshman in 1991. He sat out the 1992 game with a shoulder injury, but lost the last two games against the Cadets by two points each time.
"I've never been caught up in personal statistics," he said. "Going 1-for-3 in baseball may be fine, but not in football, especially against Army."
Kubiak finished his career with 568 completions for 6,008 yards. His performance yesterday gave him a record 726 yards in three appearances against Army, eclipsing the previous record of 537 set by John Cartwright (1965-1967).
Sight to behold
Kurt Heiss kicked the game-winning 52-yard field goal for Army, but don't ask him to describe it. His eyesight is so bad that he lines up long field-goal attempts using the back of a specific offensive lineman as a guide.
"I really can't see the uprights from outside of 30 yards," said Heiss, who came to Army as a soccer player and became the Cadets' regular kicker only this season. "If I'm kicking in the middle of the field, I can kick it right over the center. But when I'm on the hash marks, Derek Klein [his holder] tells me which lineman to kick it over."
Heiss, who also hit from 21 and 35 yards out yesterday, decided the game on his longest field goal -- by 15 yards -- with a kick that he didn't know the outcome of until his teammates started mobbing him.
Heiss said he has 20/5000 vision in his right eye and 20/800 in his left. Even corrective lenses make him no better than 20/600 in each eye.
Heisman reunion
One of the highlights of the weekend was the uniting of four former Heisman Trophy winners from the service academies, with Joe Bellino (1960) and Roger Staubach (1963) representing the Midshipmen and Glenn Davis and Pete Dawkins on hand for the Cadets.
It was a particularly busy weekend for Staubach, who quarterbacked Navy to three straight victories (1962-1964) over Army. In addition to rooting for his alma mater yesterday, Staubach, who went on to Super Bowl glory with Dallas, planned to attend the Cowboys-Philadelphia Eagles game here today.
At a dinner Friday night, Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell presented Staubach with a replica of the American bald eagle from the Franklin mint. Unfortunately, the eagle fell off its pedestal as Staubach took possession. "This is no American eagle," joked Staubach "It's got to be a Philadelphia Eagle."
Staubach said Bellino, who led the Mids to a 43-12 rout of Army in 1959, inspired him to attend the Naval Academy. "Bellino could streak for the sidelines going 60 miles an hour, and suddenly stop on a dime and cut upfield. He was unbelievable."
Star-struck
When Navy's senior tight end Kevin Hickman took a year off after graduating high school, he worked for a Cherry Hill, N.J., company that markets sports memorabilia.
"I got to work with Pete Rose, Willie Mays and Mike Schmidt, and I played catch with Terry Bradshaw," he said. "I got a good idea of how hard they had to work to get to where they were. It made me think, 'Kev, this is what you want to do.' "