Auburn has the #32 defense in the nation according to S&P+ Advanced Statistics from footballoutsiders.com. That ranks as the 5th toughest defense that Florida State will have played this year. Pittsburgh at #30 and Duke at #42 are the two teams surrounding Auburn’s 32nd rank. Below is a look at how Florida State fared against those defenses.
| Auburn Defense #32 | Pittsburgh Defense #30 | Duke Defense #42 |
| Score | 41 | 45 |
| Total Yards | 533 | 569 |
| Yards Per Play | 8.46 | 7.59 |
| Passing Yards | 377 | 330 |
| Yards Per Attempt | 13.0 | 10.3 |
| Passing Efficiency | 247.82 | 164.45 |
| Rushing Yards | 156 | 239 |
| Yards Per Carry | 4.59 | 5.56 |
Florida State has the #1 defense in the nation according to S&P+. This will be the top defense Auburn has faced in 2013. The two closest ranked defenses Auburn has faced are Alabama at #4 and Mississippi State at #17. Below is a look at how the Auburn offense fared against those defenses.
| Florida State Defense #1 | Alabama Defense #4 | Mississippi State #17 |
| Score | 34 | 24 |
| Total Yards | 393 | 459 |
| Yards Per Play | 5.78 | 6.59 |
| Passing Yards | 97 | 330 |
| Yards Per Attempt | 6.1 | 10.0 |
| Passing Efficiency | 160.93 | 159.06 |
| Rushing Yards | 296 | 239 |
| Yards Per Carry | 5.69 | 3.33 |
So what does this mean?
Florida State has not really missed a beat no matter what defense they went up against. (Throw the Wake Forest game out because that game was 35-0 early in the 2nd quarter due to defensive dominance and the offense lost focus). No defense has stopped FSU this year with only one, Florida, holding them to under 40 points. Auburn has still be good against the best defenses they’ve faced, but not nearly as dominant. A note about the above is that in the Alabama game, when they got the ball with 2:41 seconds left to play in the game, they had only managed 21 points.