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Purdue’s secondary was the weak link.

That was the common view entering 2017, including by members of the coaching staff, given the general lack of experience and the unknown of who would fill one of the starting cornerback spots.

In training camp, even, secondary coach Anthony Poindexter was lamenting no one seemed to be emerging as the “center fielder” at safety and said it was holding back the development of the group.

Much has changed in the months since August’s camp.

With 12 games of evidence and with one more game left — the Boilermakers will play in the Bay Area at the Foster Farms Bowl on Dec. 27 — Poindexter could look back on his group and see something different: A unit that got better as the season progressed, one that is building confidence with the coaches and one that was a nice complement to a stout front seven.

“I think each week, they got more and more comfortable,” said Poindexter, the co-defensive coordinator who is in charge of the secondary but specifically coaches the team’s safeties day-to-day. “The effort was always there. We had the effort piece from Game 1 and really since we’ve been here. As the games started to add up and the reps started to add up, they just got better and better. That’s just like most players. When you do something over and over again, you just start to get a good feel for it.

“By no stretch of the imagination are we there. I’m excited for the three guys who got (honorable mention) all-Big Ten. But we’ve still got work to do. We’ve still got some young guys who need some development, but for the most part, they’re doing what we asked them to do and they’re playing hard. Just going to try to continue on for this last game.”

Statistics may not be the greatest gauge of improvement.