For the second week in a row, we're breaking out a Warchant 3-2-1 -- three observations, two questions and a prediction -- after a Florida State victory.

In this edition, after FSU's 35-25 win at North Carolina, we look closely at the Seminoles' offensive identity and why it is only now coming into focus. We also check in on the play of FSU's wide receivers, the situational successes of the Seminoles' defense, what we need to see from this team moving forward and more.

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1 -- Offensive identity emerges through the fog of injuries, mistakes

Maybe the most frustrating thing about Florida State's first four games of the 2021 season -- other than, you know, them all being losses -- was the fact that the Seminoles seemed to have no obvious plan for what they were trying to accomplish on offense.

We all figured the defense would be a work in progress this season -- and it has been. But with either Jordan Travis or McKenzie Milton leading the offense, and with a more experienced offensive line and a talented backfield, it stood to reason that the Seminoles would be a team that could pound the ball on the ground and use that success to create opportunities in the passing game.

And in the season opener against Notre Dame, it looked like that might be the case. But for a variety of reasons, which we'll get to shortly, FSU's offense seemed to lose its way over the next three weeks.

They threw the ball 34 times in the loss to Jacksonville State, with 19 of those passes coming in the first two quarters -- while top running backs Jashaun Corbin and Treshaun Ward had a total of 10 carries at halftime. Then they went with the strange "hot hand" quarterback shuffle in the loss at Wake Forest.

Then with Travis on the shelf due to an injury and Milton running the offense against Louisville, they again went heavy on the passing game -- and essentially put the entire game on the former UCF star's shoulders. Milton attempted 39 passes in that game and also was credited with 11 rushing attempts (he was sacked six times). So Milton was the focal point of the offense on 50 of 75 offensive plays. Corbin, meanwhile, got 11 carries for 159 yards and a touchdown, while Ward ran the ball 10 times for 50 and a score. The two running backs also combined to catch seven passes.

It wasn't until last week against Syracuse, and again on Saturday at North Carolina, that this offense finally started to look like what we thought it might in 2021.

In Saturday's 35-25 win at North Carolina, the trio of Travis, Corbin and Ward carried the ball 39 times for 254 yards. Travis attempted just 13 passes and was incredibly efficient, completing 11 for 145 yards and three scores -- and some of his biggest passes came off of play-action.

In the Syracuse win, Travis attempted a lot more passes -- he was 22 of 32 -- but the vast majority of those were essentially running plays, as he would catch the snap and throw bubble screens to either side of the field. While the mechanics were different, the concept was the same: Get the ball in the hands of Corbin, Ward and Travis as often as possible. The trio carried the ball a combined 35 times for 262 yards, and Ward and Corbin also caught a total of 12 passes for 43 more.

Now, it would be easy to sit here after the fact and say, "See! If they would have just established this identity earlier this season, they might be 5-1 or 4-2 right now. Why did it take so long to figure it out?"

But it's not that simple.

I really think the combination of a banged-up offensive line and an offense that was plagued by so many self-defeating mistakes (penalties, turnovers and other negative plays), as well as concerns about the health of both quarterbacks, made it extremely difficult for Mike Norvell and offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham to commit to the running game. It didn't help that the team fell behind by big margins in the Wake Forest and Louisville games.

What was so impressive about the Seminoles' commitment to the run on Saturday was that they were not deterred even when North Carolina creeped its safeties up closer to the line of scrimmage. They either stuck with the run and fought for tough yardage or burned the Tar Heels with play-action passes.

After the game, UNC coach Mack Brown said his team's top three objectives on defense were to stop the running of Travis, Corbin and Ward. And he acknowledged that they went 0-for-3.

That's huge for this offense. Not because the Heels boast a stout defense -- they don't. But they are a legitimate ACC program, with a similar caliber of athletes, they knew what was coming, and they still couldn't stop it.

It has been a long time since Florida State could win battles in those situations.