As the Florida State football team looks to regroup from a disappointing finish up at Clemson, it's time to take stock of what we learned from the Seminoles' 30-20 defeat and what it might mean moving forward.

In this edition of the Warchant 3-2-1 -- where we offer three observations, two questions and one prediction -- we take a closer look at FSU's remaining schedule, we look at some of the things that went right and wrong against the Tigers, and we explore how that experience might be beneficial in the long run.

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1 -- Next two games will tell story of what happened at Clemson

Depending on your perspective, Florida State's loss at Clemson could have taken on many different meanings.

It could have been a gutsy effort that came up just short against a superior opponent on the road. Or it could have been a mistake-filled, squandered opportunity.

It might tell you that the Seminoles are not nearly as far behind the Tigers as they have been for the last half-decade. Or it might suggest that the gap between the programs is so large that even with Clemson being out of sorts, the 'Noles still can't take advantage of the opportunity.

For some, there might be truth in all of those statements.

In my opinion, we won't really know how to judge that performance until we see how the Seminoles play these next two games.

With home games looming against N.C. State and Miami, we will get a very good indication of how much improvement Florida State has made as a program. I'm not saying the Seminoles have to win both of those games to validate a narrow loss to Clemson and their 3-1 month of October.

But if they do play well in those games -- and yes, especially if they win them -- that will lend credence to the belief that the program is definitely heading in the right direction.

Conversely, if the Seminoles deliver an uninspiring or sloppy performance against the Wolfpack and continue to struggle against the rival Hurricanes, then the importance of the Clemson game will be diminished.

For those reasons -- and for what it will mean to Mike Norvell's overall record, which is now 3-5 this season and 6-11 overall -- these next two weeks will be huge for the 'Noles.

I'm not going to call these must-win games. Both teams blew FSU out one year ago, and they both have better records right now. N.C. State (6-2, 3-1 ACC) has already opened as a three-point favorite for this weekend, and the Hurricanes (4-4. 2-2) will be favored if they win a third straight game this weekend against Georgia Tech, which they should as nearly 10-point favorites.

But both teams are also certainly beatable. And if the Seminoles did indeed take another step in the right direction at Clemson -- and simply couldn't finish in a stadium where the Tigers haven't lost in five years -- we should see proof of that these next two weeks.

2 -- There was one huge mismatch FSU couldn't overcome

I was impressed with several individual aspects of Florida State's performance at Clemson. I thought the defensive front played very well, even though the Tigers enjoyed much more success in the running game than I expected, averaging 4.4 yards per carry and a total of 188 yards on 43 carries (including three sacks). The Seminoles racked up 11 tackles for loss and were much stingier in the second half, which allowed FSU to hang in the game.