Florida State Football: Ranking the Top 5 Seminoles' Performances in October

No. 2 Florida State capped off an undefeated October with a thrilling come-from-behind victory at Louisville last Thursday. The victory followed on the heels of conference wins over Wake Forest and Syracuse and a highly contested triumph over Notre Dame.

Let’s take a look back at the five best individual performances by FSU players over the past month.

Nick O'Leary vs. Syracuse

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Nick O’Leary vs. Syracuse: 8 catches, 97 yards, 1 touchdown

O’Leary will more than likely go down in FSU history as the greatest tight end to ever come through the program. And against Syracuse, the senior looked the part.

FSU’s talented tight end finished the day with a career-high eight catches for 97 yards and one touchdown. He would later be named the John Mackey Award Tight End of the Week.

Reggie Northrup vs. Louisville

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Reggie Northrup vs. Louisville: career-high 12 tackles, 1 interception

The ‘Noles were without several linebackers against Louisville, so the pressure was on Northrup to play disciplined and impact the game. He accomplished both of those tasks.

The Jacksonville, Fla. native posted a career-best 12 tackles and intercepted a pass on what turned out to be the Cardinals’ final offensive snap of the game. Known as the team’s biggest hitter, Northrup made his presence felt against Louisville and captured ACC Linebacker of the Week honors in the process.

Dalvin Cook vs. Louisville

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Dalvin Cook vs. Louisville: 9 rushes, 110 yards, 2 touchdowns

Florida State’s star freshman tailback already had a 100-yard game under his belt when he went for 122 against Syracuse, but the former 5-star prospect had the best outing of his young career in the Seminoles’ come-from-behind win over Louisville.

Cook, a former verbal commitment to Florida before switching to FSU and enrolling in classes this past January, needed fewer than 10 carries to eclipse 100 yards against the Cardinals. He showcased his elite speed, athleticism and ability to make defenders miss by reeling off touchdown dashes of 40 and 38 yards.

Cook became the first player to rush for at least 100 yards against Louisville’s talented defense all season. He was later named the ACC’s Rookie of the Week for his Thursday night performance.

Jameis Winston vs. Syracuse

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Jameis Winston vs. Syracuse: 30-of-36, 317 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner didn’t let a week’s worth of off-field distractions stemming from his involvement in a sexual assault case slow him down in Florida State’s 38-20 win at Syracuse.

Winston was efficient, put his teammates in position to make plays and orchestrated an FSU offensive attack that generated 482 total yards and 29 first downs.

Tie: Terrance Smith vs. Notre Dame; Roberto Aguayo vs. Wake Forest

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Let’s call this one a tie for the fifth and final best individual performance by an FSU player in the month of October.

Terrance Smith vs. Notre Dame: 11 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 pass breakup, 1 forced fumble

The leading ACC tackler at the time, Smith had arguably the best game of his career against Notre Dame.

Smith was all over the field, pacing a successful Seminoles defensive effort that proved to be the difference in the second half of the highly contested game. Smith finished with a game-best 11 tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, a pass breakup and a forced fumble and was named the Chuck Bednarik Award Player of the Week.

Roberto Aguayo vs. Wake Forest: career-high 5 field goals made

There was little Aguayo hadn’t accomplished in an FSU uniform, but the 2013 Lou Groza Award winner had never made five field goals in a single game before—until Wake Forest came to Doak Campbell Stadium this season.

Aguayo was a perfect 5-of-5 on field goals in FSU’s 43-3 triumph over the Demon Deacons on Oct. 4 and set the school record for consecutive field goals made with 21 in the process.

Brandon Mellor is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics courtesy of Seminoles.com and TheACC.com. All recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.

Follow @BrandonMellor on Twitter.