In the wake of Florida State's 31-23 loss to Louisville on Saturday, we're back with another edition of the Warchant 3-2-1.

As always, we offer three observations, two questions and a prediction about FSU Football. The topics covered this week include the Seminoles' terribly slow starts, the offense's personnel limitations, risky fourth-down calls, possible playing time for Chubba Purdy and more.

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1 -- Early defensive lapses are back-breakers

We have to give Florida State's defensive players and coaches credit for the way they rallied in the second half on Saturday. That was the best half of defensive football we have seen around here in a long time, and it should give fans at least a little hope that there's something to build on.

Perhaps more importantly, it should give FSU's defensive players some confidence that they can make plays and get stops. They can break up passes and make open-field tackles. They can rally to the football and stop a legitimate running game.

While I'm sure some will say, "Louisville got conservative when they got a big lead," I don't think that is totally fair in this case. That was indeed the deal last week at Wake Forest; the Demon Deacons attempted just nine passes in the second half after attempting 22 in the first. But Louisville didn't shut down its offense on Saturday; the Cardinals simply couldn't stay on the field because they couldn't get first downs.

At the same time, we can't give the defense too much credit because the first halves of these last two games have been nothing short of abysmal.

Last week, Wake Forest racked up 322 yards of total offense and 27 points in the first half. This week, Louisville rolled to 316 yards and 31 points before halftime.

Those are preposterous numbers -- even in today's age of college football -- and they speak to a group that is simply not prepared to play. For whatever reason.

Both opponents seemed to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. And this most recent first-half debacle was more troubling than last week's. It's one thing for a team with a veteran quarterback to have success against your defense when he's playing at home. It's inexcusable for a visiting offense to come into your stadium and march up and down the field like they're going against their scout team in practice.

We all understand that football is a complementary sport, and FSU's offensive woes are certainly not helping the defense in any way, shape or form. But there's no excuse, four games into a season, to see the defensive confusion we saw in the first half -- when Louisville converted almost every time it faced a third down and scored on five consecutive drives.

Adam Fuller and his defensive coaches are undoubtedly hoping Saturday's second half is a sign of a turnaround, and perhaps it will be. Maybe the light has come on for some guys who look like they've been wandering aimlessly in the dark, while opponents race past them.

But they simply have to figure out a way to be competitive in the first halves moving forward for this team to have any chance.