Can a bad Auburn defense win a game this big?

Regarding Auburn’s defense, this was its coordinator’s non-defense: “We have got terrible-looking overall statistics, and some of them are not misleading.”

Yet there Ellis Johnson was, facing the assembled media in a hotel ballroom in Orange County, about to lead a unit with terrible-looking stats into the BCS title game against Florida State. In the history of college football, no defense so statistically wretched has ever propelled a team so high.

“The whole thing has sort of confounded me,” said Johnson, in his first season with the Tigers after meritorious stints at Clemson, Alabama, Mississippi State and South Carolina. Then, looking behind those lousy numbers, he said: “We make critical stops at critical times and we’re good on third and fourth down and good in the red zone and good in the fourth quarter. And with an offense like ours and the kicking game like ours, it’s been good enough to win ballgames.”

Auburn ranks 87th in the nation and 12th in the 14-team SEC in total defense, 104th and 14th in passing defense. It yielded 464 yards to Washington State, 464 more to Ole Miss, 602 to Texas A&M, 532 to Georgia, 495 to Alabama and 534 to Missouri. Somehow it won all six games. Come Monday, the Tigers will face an opponent that has a higher-rated offense than even Gus Malzahn’s — FSU ranks No. 5 nationally in yards gained to Auburn’s No. 10 — and what will happen then?

Of the four principal units in this championship game, three are top-shelf. Auburn’s defense is bargain-basement. “We know we may be the forgotten group,” tackle Nosa Eguae said, “but we’re together, and we’ll get the job done. As long as we play as a group, we’re going to find a way to win this football game.”

When your numbers are as awful as Auburn’s, you emphasize intangibles (unity, heart, etc.) and point to the scoreboard. Auburn is 12-1 and champion of the conference that has won the past seven BCS titles. You would think it wouldn’t have to apologize for anything, but its pragmatic defensive coordinator kind of does.

Said Johnson: “We have not been, by all standards, a really good defense this year. I think part of it is because we’re in a new system. These guys have gone through three different systems in three different years. We’ve been inconsistent at times. You need to put that on me. But we always know how to play in the moment … We’ve made critical stops at critical times.”

Auburn has outscored opponents 107-48 in the fourth quarter. It ranks third among SEC teams in limiting third-down conversions, first in red-zone defense. It held Alabama scoreless over the final 10 minutes of the epic Iron Bowl. It shut out Missouri over the final 20 minutes of the careening SEC championship. Even after yielding 21 fourth-quarter points to Georgia, the Tigers halted the Bulldogs’ final thrust — this coming after the deflected Prayer at Jordan-Hare — when end Dee Ford clobbered Aaron Murray.

Eguae: “Our deal is executing when the game is on the line, making big-time plays. As far as the yards thing, that’s the thing we’ve been working on.”

Cornerback Chris Davis: “Giving up all those yards, that’s something coach Johnson constantly harps on. He says we can’t keep giving up all these yards and expect to win the games. But in the game, we tend to come through with stops when we need them.”

Trouble is, Florida State is a fast starter. It hasn’t trailed in the second half this season. If the Seminoles get way ahead and force Auburn to pass more than it wants, will the fourth quarter even matter?

Johnson: “They do make so many big plays. They can look average at times and have 21 points on the board. They’ve got great athletes that make big plays at important times. We do need to start well. We cannot get in a big, deep hole with a team this good and expect to come back and win.”