When former Mississippi State defensive coordinator Geoff Collins left Dan Mullen’s coaching staff in 2014 to take the same position on Jim McElwain’s staff at Florida, Bulldogs fans couldn’t have been pleased.

After all, Collins had the defense in Starkville rolling during Mississippi State’s 10-win campaign last season. The Bulldogs had a bend-but-don’t-break sort of defense under Collins. Although they ranked 86th in the country in total yards allowed per game (424.4) and 117th in passing yards allowed per game (272.8), Collins’ bunch was stout against the run (44th nationally; 151.5 yards per game) and had the 23rd-ranked scoring defense in the FBS (21.7 points allowed per game).

But when Manny Diaz, who had served as the Bulldogs defensive coordinator in 2010 before taking a job on the coaching staff at Texas, was rehired by Mississippi State prior to this season to replace Collins, the expectations were that the defense wouldn’t skip a beat.

In Diaz’s first stint as the Bulldogs defensive coordinator, the numbers for Mississippi State’s defense were similar to what they were in 2014, which fans in Starkville were more than happy with.

The Diaz-led defense in 2010 finished 21st in scoring defense (19.9 points allowed per game) and 15th against the run (119.1 rushing yards allowed per game).

But the results have been a bit different in Diaz’s second go-round as the head of Mississippi State’s defense — different, but still solid.

Mississippi State’s defense has improved immensely in the amount of yards it allows per game from last season to this one. The Bulldogs’ 370 total yards allowed per game rank them 48th in the FBS, and much of that is due to the improved passing defense under Diaz. Mississippi State went from being ranked 125th against the pass last season to 31st this year (195.9 passing yards allowed per game).

The rushing defense isn’t as scary as it was a year ago, ranking 78th in the nation right now (174.4 rushing yards allowed per game), but the Bulldogs have had some impressive performances against talented running backs this season.

Perhaps Mississippi State’s best performance against the run came in its Week 2 meeting with LSU’s running back and Heisman candidate Leonard Fournette. The Bulldogs held Fournette to 5.7 yards per carry — the third-lowest output of his phenomenal season (only Alabama and Arkansas held him to fewer).

The number of takeaways that Mississippi State’s defense is accounting for is also similar to last season. In 2014, the Bulldogs finished with 37 sacks and 16 interceptions, tied for 20th and 15th in those categories, respectively.

This season, Diaz’s defense is on pace for 30 sacks and 13 interceptions and currently ranks 33rd and 39th in the country in those areas.

But the most important thing for a defense to do is keep points off the board. And in that respect, Diaz is doing just as good of a job, if not better, than Collins.

The Bulldogs currently rank 19th in scoring defense as opposed to last season when they finished 23rd, and Diaz has them giving up about 3 fewer points per game (21.7).

If Mississippi State fans were satisfied with what Collins did with the Bulldogs defense in 2014 when they won 10 games, then the numbers pretty much say that they should be just as happy with Diaz as the defensive coordinator.