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With its home field in Beaver Stadium "Happy Valley" (a.k.a. Beaver Stadium, the nation's largest) Penn State football is usually synonmous with big, better, and best.

On the comeback trail - following a 2010 lackluster 7-6 season performance marked by a defensive line plagued with injuries - the Nittany Lions are poised to come roaring back in 2011 with another shot at a decisive win at the Big Ten championship.

Bringing the team to greatness for the past 4 decades has been legendary head coach Joe Paterno who, in addition to being the only coach to have won all five major bowl games in his career, traditionally vies with Florida State's Bobby Bowden for the most victories ever for a coach in Division I with almost 375 career wins.

Penn State alumni who have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame include Jack Ham, Franco Harris, Mike Michalske, Lenny Moore and Mike Munchak.

Paterno scandal

In November 2011, controversy erupted when coach Joe Paterno's former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was arrested on 40 counts of molesting eight young boys (one as young as age 10), including incidents that occurred at Penn State over a 15-year period.

Although Paterno has not been implicated in any wrongdoing, advocates for sexual abuse victims have called for charges to be brought against Paterno, as well. This, for allowing Sandusky to retain emeritus status and access to the university's football facilities despite personal knowledge an allegation of one assault of a young boy in 2002.

According to early reports in November, Penn State was already planning an early exit for Paterno. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that Paterno would, indeed, be retiring at the end of the 2011-2012 season. In an official statement, Paterno said he was "absolutely devastated" by the case linked to his one-time heir apparent, Jerry Sandusky, and hoped that the team could finish its season with "dignity and determination."

Hours later, however, the Penn State board of trustees put a finer point on it by announcing that Paterno, along with University president Graham Spanier, had been fired, effective immediately on November 9, 2011.

Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley will serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2011-2012 season.

More about Penn State football around the Web:

Penn State Football - Information on the Penn State game schedule, roster, standings, stats, rankings, live broadcasts, photos.

Yahoo! Sports College Football - Penn State - Scores, schedule, rankings, standings, stats, team photos, fan message boards, and live broadcasts

CBS Sports - Penn State Nittany Lions - Team news headlines, complete schedule, scores, player profiles, Big Ten standings, fan forum.

Penn State Football - Penn Live.com - Regular blogs and opinion on Penn State team developments with related stats, game photos, video, fan forum.

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