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History of Penn State Sanctions

2011 Oct. 29: Penn State defeats Illinois, 10-7, giving Joe Paterno his 409th career win, passing Eddie Robinson to become the all-time winningest head coach in Division I college football. It would be the last game in Paterno's coaching career.

2011

Oct. 29:

Penn State defeats Illinois, 10-7, giving Joe Paterno his 409th career win, passing Eddie Robinson to become the all-time winningest head coach in Division I college football. It would be the last game in Paterno's coaching career.

Nov. 4: Former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky is charged with 40 counts of child sexual abuse, and two other Penn State officials - athletic director Tim Curley and senior vice president Gary Schultz - are charged with perjury. Paterno is not charged.

Nov. 9: Penn State's board of trustees fires Paterno and university president Graham B. Spanier.

2012

Jan. 22:

Paterno dies of lung cancer.

July 12: An internal report conducted by former FBI Director Louis Freeh concludes that Spanier and other top Penn State administrators conspired for more than a decade to keep quiet sex-abuse allegations against Sandusky.

July 23: The NCAA announces sanctions against Penn State that include a ban on postseason football through the 2015 season, a reduction in scholarships from 85 to 65 for the 2014 through 2017 seasons, a $60 million fine, and the striking of 111 wins from 1998 through 2011 from the record books.

2013

Jan. 4:

State Sen. Jake Corman (R., Centre) files a lawsuit against the NCAA in state court, seeking to keep all proceeds from the $60 million fine for use on child-protection programs within Pennsylvania.

Feb. 10: A report sponsored by the Paterno family says the Freeh report was "full of inaccuracies" that resulted in "a rush to injustice."

Sept. 24: Acting on a compliance report by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, the NCAA announces a modification of Penn State's scholarship reductions, increasing the team's scholarship total from 65 to 75 in 2014, 80 in 2015, and the NCAA maximum of 85 in 2016.

2014

Sept. 8:

The NCAA, based on Mitchell's second report, restores Penn State's bowl eligibility, effective that season, and restores the full complement of scholarships beginning in the next season.

Nov. 5: The NCAA releases internal e-mails written in 2012 that show it was unsure about its authority to impose sanctions, but was willing to gamble that it could bluff Penn State administrators into accepting them.

Dec. 27: In its return to bowl-game action, Penn State rallies to defeat Boston College, 31-30, in the Pinstripe Bowl, its first postseason win in five seasons.

2015

Monday:

The NCAA, state officials, and Penn State officials are reportedly in talks to restore Paterno's 111 vacated wins and to leave the $60 million fine for use within the state and university on child-protection programs.

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