Almost good

 Indiana did not save Tom Allen's job yesterday, on a warm rainy day in Happy Valley. But it probably solidified Brendan Sorsby's.

It was exactly that kind of "Yes, but ..." and "On the other hand ..." afternoon for the Allen's Hoosiers, who did not beat No. 10 Penn State but did not lose by 30 the way the Vegas wise guys thought. The Hoosiers lost 33-24, and it would have been 31-24 had Indiana not Indiana'ed it up there at the end, Sorsby taking a sack and fumbling into and through the end zone with 1:33 to play.

Safety, Penn State, Thirteen seconds after Drew Allard threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to save the day for the Nittany Lions  -- who gave up a 90-yard touchdown pass by Sorsby and then a 67-yard touchdown pass, and did not exactly find the open gate they were supposed to against the Indiana defense.

In fact, the Indiana defense picked Allard once, sacked him three times and pressured him into off-kilter throws a bunch of other times. All told they made six tackles for loss on the day, while limiting Penn State to a measly 132 yards rushing and 324 total yards, five fewer than Sorsby (13-of-19, 269 yards and three touchdowns passing) and the Indiana offense churned out.

So you can say, ungrammatically, that the Hoosiers were almost good, and Sorsby was ... gooder.

On the other hand ...

On the other hand, they still lost. 

Still did Indiana things, like turning the ball over twice at ruinous times. Still turned a 14-7 lead into a 17-14 halftime deficit in seven minutes. Still gave up the big play with 1:46 to play and score tied at 24.

Still remained winless in the Big Ten, and now Allen's conference record stands at 2-20 since 2021. That alone will be enough for Allen to be shown the door, unless the Hoosiers jump up, win out and get into a bowl game.

Could happen, I suppose, if the outfit that was tied with the No. 10 team in the country  with less than two minutes to play keeps showing up. I mean, it won't, but it could.

My natural pessimist's guess, based on years of watching Indiana football, is the Hoosiers will lose at home to Wisconsin next week to fall to 2-7. Because, you know, they're the Hoosiers.

Sometimes almost good. More often not.