CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A season of great highs came with the biggest of all for the Wake Forest football team.

Matt Colburn 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.

"Just keep pushing," Wake Forest quarterback John Wolford said. "I trust in those guys. I knew we were ready to go."

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.

"It has been a magical week for us," Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said. "Our kids will never forget. No better way to finish it off."

Wolford threw four first-half touchdown passes, helping the Demon Deacons (8-5) win bowl games in back-to-back seasons. He finished 32-for-49 for 400 yards in the air plus another 68 rushing yards on 15 carries.

Jhamon Ausbon caught a 13-yard pass from Nick Starkel with 5:52 left to put Texas A&M ahead 52-48. 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.

Starkel threw for 499 yards and four touchdowns, completing 42 of 63 passes. Receiver Christian Kirk caught 13 passes for 189 yards three TDs, and Ausbon had 12 catches for 112 yards.

"It's a tough loss," Aggies running back Keith Ford said. "This one was very heart-wrenching."

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. Ford was stopped on a second-down run inside the 1-yard line.

"I feel like I had that touchdown," Ford said.

Wake Forest turned around its 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 replace dismissed Kevin Sumlin, and Fisher in attendance as a spectator.

"It was very frustrating that we lost, but you can look at it as a young team fighting back," Texas A&M receiver Damion Ratley said.

Wake Forest scored 31 consecutive points on the way to a 31-14 lead.

"We made a priority to come out the second half and give it everything we had," Ford said.

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 Kirk setting up Trayveon Williams' 2-yard run.

"That's where we're different than we've ever been," Clawson said. "We have an offense that can overcome that."

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 a 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 at 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.