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yup, greatest offense to that point in history - not a great defense

They're basically 2019 LSU, but for a failed 2-point attempt.  
So they're viewed as less-than.  

Everyone seems to think Nebraska still wins the NC with a tie there.  Voters back then were idiots and cared more about WHEN you lost or tied as who it was against.  
Auburn finished their season with consecutive wins over teams ranked 5th, 7th, 4th, 19th, and 8th.  Their only loss was to top-5 Texas back in September.
I think Auburn wins the NC (or at least a split) if Nebraska tied in the bowl game.

I think a team needs a better than average D to prevail even today.  We see some high scoring games now, but nothing like 63-55 (yet).  You need to try and limit the opponent to 35 (or less) and then score in the 40s.  I figure an elite offense today will score mid30s on even a very good defense.

This.

People keep pointing to 2019 as not great, but that's only true in stretches, even though the offense was able to carry a unit at times that was only okay.  I don't think they run through their final 3 games vs. UGA, OU, and Clemson had the defense not come round to championship caliber.  Clemson in particular, they got the better of us early on on both sides of the ball.  If not for the defense clamping down, tigers would've found themselves playing from behind in a shootout even when the offense got rolling.  

But the early season happened, counts, and matters.  LSU was good enough to come through Sept + Oct unscathed.  

But the early season happened, counts, and matters.  LSU was good enough to come through Sept + Oct unscathed. 

This matters if we're talking about some greatest season of all time comparison.  

It's mostly immaterial to "does defense win championships."  A good case can be made that LSU doesn't win a championship, even with their offense, if their defense didn't sharpen way up.  

Literally, a championship is won at the very end of a season.  

Yeah, I think the upcoming TCU-UGA games is the "end of the season" ...

I get OAM's point.  If TCU and Georgia hadn't played well enough to defeat all of their opponents in September and October, they very well might not be playing for the championship in January.  

But comparing a team's defense over all games in a season, is even more difficult than comparing them for single games late in the season, and we're already struggling just with that data alone.