As of last nights game here is where the 2007 season shook out in terms of top 10 teams in terms of yardage on offense and on defense.
First off here are the records for the Top 10 Offenses and Top 10 Defenses in 2007 as listed by the NCAA in terms of total yardage.
As you can see from above you can win a lot of games EITHER way. In 2007 the top 10 offensive teams wound up 9-4 on average with Hawaii, Missouri, and Kansas leading the way with 12 wins each. The top 10 defensive teams are closer to 10-3 on average in the right column with Ohio State, USC, LSU, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia leading the way in terms of wins. More BCS game participants are on the defensive list than on the offensive list (five to two if I counted right)
Conversely here is the the updated offense and defense profile for the BCS Championship team since 2000:
On *average* they have 432 yards of offense and allow 280 yards on defense. (You can see the variation and exceptions above).
Note: USC this season finished 2007 with 434 yards on offense per game (453 just with Booty as starting QB) or roughly what LSU had for the season. USC finished the year with 273 yards allowed on defense. Strength of opponents etc. is not figured in of course.
Here is what the runner up in the BCS game looked like by way of comparison for the same period of time:
On *average* (of course exceptions exist) the losing team tended to have a slightly higher offense (465 yards versus 432 yards) but roughly the same defense (285 versus 280 yards). Two #1 offenses (Florida State and USC) have lost the title game. No #1 defenses have been in the game until Ohio State this year...of course they lost as well.
I personally would avoid couching this in terms of "offense versus defense" as there are too many other variables and intangibles in the equation to consider. I think it is this more akin to the logic principle of "necessary vs sufficient". A good offense and a good defense are both necessary, but neither alone is sufficient to win most games or a championship as players and coaches often point out.
Here is a look at turnovers as well while we are at it. Since 2000 at least the team with the fewer turnovers in the BCS title game has won in every case. Of course this is just a 20/20 hindsight observation. I don't know which team had the better turnover margin coming into the game. Still turnovers and the short field scoring opportunities (e.g. field position) they often create help explain why in close games a team with a lesser offense can beat a team with a better offense, etc.
In the 2007 BCS game LSU had fewer yards on offense than Ohio State (326 vs 353) according to the unofficial game stats on SI.com. Perhaps even more impressively LSU limited OSU to just 3 of 13 on third downs (23%), sacked Ohio State's QB five times, forced three interceptions, and blocked one FG kick.
I am a fan of Bo Pelini the LSU defensive coordinator who is moving onto Nebraska. He coached secondary at the 49ers under George Seifert while Pete Carroll was DC there and later followed Pete Carroll to New England to become LB coach in the pro's. Since then he has done excellent work at Nebraska, Oklahoma, and LSU. Pelini runs a lot of the same base fronts and blitz packages as USC does (his words in an article I read somewhere). I'll try and take a closer look at the LSU-OSU game in the off season when time allows.
It will be interesting to see how Pelini does as Head Coach at Nebraska and how LSU fares on defense next year with a new defensive coordinator and new set of players. I wish him the best of luck turning around the Cornhuskers.