Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs Texas A&M Aggies Match Player Stats On Dec 29, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Dec 29, 2017

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Matt Coburn scored on a 1-yard run with 2:18 remaining as Wake Forest won a wild Belk Bowl, recovering after surrendering a 17-point lead to defeat Texas A&M 55-52 on Friday afternoon at Bank of America Stadium.

Texas A&M (7-6) reached its own 49-yard line on its last drive before turning the ball over on downs with 28 seconds left.

John Wolford threw four first-half touchdown passes, helping the Demon Deacons (8-5) win bowl games in back-to-back seasons.

Jhamon Ausbon caught a 13-yard pass from Nick Starkel with 5:52 left to put Texas A&M ahead. That drive covered 72 yards on 10 plays.

Backup running back Cade Carney scored on a 1-yard, fourth-down run to send Wake Forest into the lead with 9:06 to play.

Texas A&M quarterback Nick Starkel threw for 499 yards and four touchdowns, completing 42 of 63 passes.

Wake Forest made a goal-line stand early in the fourth quarter, with Daniel LaCamera's 19-yard field goal extending the Aggies' lead to 45-41.

The Demon Deacons turned around their early troubles on special teams with Jessie Bates III returning a punt 59 yards for a second-quarter touchdown.

There was a record, too, with Wake Forest's Cam Serigne making a 37-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter. That was his 21st career touchdown reception, setting an Atlantic Coast Conference record for a tight end.

Jeff Banks, the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach, served as Texas A&M's interim coach. Jimbo Fisher was hired away from Florida State to replaced dismissed Kevin Sumlin, with Fisher in attendance as a spectator.

The Aggies built a 14-0 lead in less than four minutes.

Deshawn Capers-Smith blocked a punt and Charles Oliver recovered for a touchdown for the game's first points.

Then, following a partially blocked punt that ended Wake Forest's next possession, the Aggies struck quickly with Starkel's 44-yard pass play to Christian Kirk setting up Trayveon Williams' 2-yard run.

The Demon Deacons responded, scoring on Wolford's 50-yard pass play to Scotty Washington.

It was all even at 14-14 at the 5:47 mark of the first quarter, with Tabari Hines catching a 7-yard strike from Wolford just one play (and one face-mask penalty) after a roughing-the-kicker penalty on a missed field goal.

That gave Wolford a single-season school record with 27 touchdown passes.

Wake Forest went up 17-14 on Mike Weaver's 28-yard field before Wolford added to his touchdown total when Hines made a diving catch in the end zone for another 7-yard score.

It was 31-14 after Bates returned a punt 59 yards, accounting for the most first-half points allowed by the Aggies this year and 12:21 remained in the second quarter.

NOTES: Temperature at kickoff was listed t 41 degrees (and sunny). ... DE Wendell Dunn broke the Wake Forest record for career starts with his 50th in this game. ... This was the third time that Texas A&M had an interim coach for a bowl game, splitting the previous two situations. ... Exactly 10 years ago to the day, Wake Forest played in Charlotte's bowl (then called Meineke Car Care Bowl) and defeated Connecticut. ... The Demon Deacons were playing 78 miles from their campus in Winston-Salem. ... This was the first-ever meeting between Texas A&M and Wake Forest.