Thanksgiving comes Thursday with Indiana sitting three games above .500 in the Big Ten standings. The Hoosiers were a rare four games over .500 prior to Saturday’s narrow loss to Ohio State.

Indiana has not been able to say that since the 1987 Peach Bowl season, when a win over Purdue in the regular-season finale put the Hoosiers at 6-2 in league play, tied for second place.

This season, the 4-1 Hoosiers, ranked 12th in the Associated Press poll following their 42-35 loss to the No. 3 Buckeyes, have plenty to be thankful for as we roll into the holiday.

Let’s take a look at 5 of them.

1. Tom Allen

When then-defensive coordinator Tom Allen took over the Indiana program before the Foster Farms Bowl in 2016, few outside the program understood what the Hoosiers were doing.

Allen, who hadn’t had an ounce of D-1 head coaching experience, wasn’t just going to be the interim following Kevin Wilson’s departure, he was the permanent head guy. Seemed weird at the time.

Not now.

Sometimes, assistants struggle to take that next step, going from in command of their little island to the man in charge of the whole operation. As the head coach, there’s more to it than simple Xs and Os; there’s organization and leadership, too, the need to embrace every aspect of the program. Some fail. Wilson did.

But Allen has not.

The Indiana players believe in him. And he believes in them. It has created a synergy that helped the Hoosiers nearly complete one of the biggest upsets in program history Saturday, when they rallied from down 35-7 early in the third quarter to get within a touchdown late. IU captured the Hoosiers’ bond in a video of the postgame locker room that it released on Twitter.

“I’m proud of you guys,” Allen shouted, eyeing members of his team. “You fought and you fought and you fought. You stayed together. You understand me? This team is special, with special things ahead of you. You understand me? Special things ahead of you. That’s the truth, so you stay together.”

Maybe it’s a discussion for another time, but Allen is a bargain, too. IU is paying him a base of $3.77 million this season, the second-lowest sum in the Big Ten, per the USA Today coaches’ salary database. That might change soon enough, however.

2. The football gods

Indiana validated its 4-0 start more so in the 42-35 loss at Ohio State than in any of the four victories.

That’s not to take anything away from the Hoosiers — you can only play who is on the schedule — but Indiana certainly did benefit from Michigan and Penn State turning in seasons of historic lows. Maybe Indiana’s season-opening win helped put PSU in its tailspin, and maybe the same can be said for Michigan’s woes following IU’s beatdown of the Wolverines two weeks later.

But look, those teams are also just awful. The Hoosiers getting Penn State at home, as they did in the Big Ten’s third iteration of the schedule, rather than opening at Wisconsin, like in the first two versions, was beneficial. The Hoosiers gained immeasurable confidence with that win, and the one over Michigan, and for a team on the verge, as Indiana seemingly was, that can be huge.

3. Ty Fryfogle

As a junior, Ty Fryfogle was a nice piece for the Hoosiers, a solid contributor who helped the Indiana offense pile up big numbers on the way to its 8-win season.

But he wasn’t near the top of the list of reasons to be hyped about the Hoosiers’ offense entering 2020. Those spots were reserved for quarterback Michael Penix Jr., wide receiver Whop Philyor, running back Stevie Scott and tight end Peyton Hendershot.

But Fryfogle, who had 45 receptions for 604 yards and 3 touchdowns in 2019, has been an absolute stud, particularly the last three weeks. As he’s gained in comfort with Penix, his numbers have shot up; the last three weeks: 25 receptions for 560 yards (for a crazy 22.4 yards per catch) and 6 touchdowns. Extrapolate his current averages over a 13-game season and the 6-foot-2, 214-pound senior is on pace for 81 catches, 1,669 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Fryfogle’s back-to-back 200-yard games are a first in Big Ten history, leaving little wonder why he was the Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Week following the loss at OSU.

4. The season itself

This season was as close as one can come to not happening at all.

Heck, after cancelling the season due to the pandemic, Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said the league wasn’t going to reconsider. Until, that is, it did reconsider.

In the interim, Indiana was clearly one of the teams that stayed ready to play, should the Big Ten decide to reverse course, a credit to Allen and his staff. Other programs across the Big Ten obviously did not. Do you think Jim Harbaugh or James Franklin treated the month between not playing and playing the same as Allen or Pat Fitzgerald? Doesn’t seem so.

Indiana has made the most of this odd season, and we — fans or not — should be appreciative of that.

5. Health

You’re always thankful for your health around Thanksgiving, maybe this year more than any other.

It pales in comparison to the world-wide cost of the pandemic, but in football terms, Indiana is thankful for the health of Penix. It was one of the biggest questions prior to the season: Could he stay healthy and start to capitalize on his vast potential? Yes and yes.

Penix, who was knocked out of the last two seasons with injuries, has been fantastic, giving the Hoosiers a marquee face through the first half of the season. Almost anyone in the Big Ten, and the same for the country, would take Penix’s 1,561 yards and 14 touchdowns through five games, but his leadership has been on point, as well. Couldn’t ask for much more.