THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, October 27, 1996              TAG: 9610270168
SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: STEVE CARLSON
                                            LENGTH:   46 lines

[BRIEFS]

Morrison, Thomas suspended for game

BLACKSBURG - Virginia Tech linebacker Tony Morrison and backup punter John Thomas were suspended for the Hokies football game with Pittsburgh Saturday.

Tech coach Frank Beamer would not say why, although a newspaper reported Morrison missed curfew Thursday and would serve a one-game suspension. Beamer declined to specify the length of either suspension Saturday.

``The only thing I'd say about those guys is they're suspended from the football team, and that's the only thing I'm going to say about that,'' Beamer said. ``Just indefinitely, that's how you can put it. I want to talk about the guys that were out there today, that's who I'll talk about.''

Morrison, a junior from Chesapeake averaging a team-high 11.7 tackles per game, had missed two earlier games this season with a foot injury.

It marked the third suspension of Morrison's career. He missed a game his freshman season for an unspecified problem and was held out of last year's Sugar Bowl after being arrested for a disturbance at a downtown Blacksburg nightspot. That was one of a spate of arrests of Tech football players in the past year.

Goin' deep finally pays off

Tech tried several times Saturday before finally hooking up on a long pass play when Jim Druckenmiller hit Shawn Scales in stride for a 71-yard touchdown in the third quarter. It was Tech's longest pass of the year.

``It's a good feeling,'' said Scales, who dropped what would have been a 42-yard touchdown pass earlier in the game. ``You go so far through the year and it hasn't happened and you wonder if it's going to happen.''

The Hokies had at least six dropped passes as Druckenmiller finished 10 of 20 for 191 yards and two touchdowns.

``You can only let it frustrate you to a point,'' Druckenmiller said. ``I'm not going to lose confidence in them and I'm still going to throw it to them on the next play.''

Quick hits

Pitt's leading rusher was quarterback Matt Lytle, who finished with 39 net yards on 11 carries. Included in that total was a 13-yard loss on a sack by Jamel Smith. . . . Smith, a redshirt freshman starting in place of injured Myron Newsome, was credited with eight tackles, the sack, another tackle for loss and a pass broken up. by CNB