The Demon Deacons prevailed in a barnburner.

Wake Forest beat Texas A&M in a wild Belk Bowl on Friday in Charlotte, 55-52. The game set the bowl’s all-time scoring record (107 points) and was a blast.

Wake finished its season 8-5. A&M finished 7-6 and played this game under an interim coach, Jeff Banks. Jimbo Fisher will take over the program from here.

A quick rundown of the action:

Fourth quarter

A&M’s Daniel LaCamera made a 19-yard field goal to extend a one-point lead to four with just under 13 minutes to play. Wake’s defense made a goal line stand to force the kick and keep its deficit at one score.

The Deacs made that stop count. On their next possession, they drove 69 yards in 11 plays and retook the lead with a Cade Carney touchdown on an option pitch.

A&M pulled back ahead on a 10-play, 72-yard drive that ended with a Jhamon 13-yard touchdown catch. The PAT brought the game’s point total to 100.

Wake, in turn, answered with a touchdown drive of its own, capped on a 1-yard run by Matt Colburn II. That put the Deacs back in front yet again.

Wake forced a fourth-down stop in the final minute to seal the game.

Third quarter

The Aggies mounted a comeback to start the second half, after an early 14-0 lead became a 17-point deficit by early on in the second quarter.

Texas A&M co-starter at running back Trayveon Williams left the game with an injury with just more than five minutes left in the third quarter.

On the next play, A&M quarterback Nick Starkel threw an ugly interception near midfield. But Wake’s John Wolford threw a pick of his own on the ensuing drive, and then A&M scored to take its first lead since the early going. Wolford fumbled on Wake’s next drive to give A&M good field position again.

The Starkel interception was, however, a thing to behold.

You could watch football for a long time and group that interception among the uglies interceptions you’ve ever seen. There’s nobody from A&M even in the vicinity of Wake’s Jaboree Williams, who will never have an easier pick in his life.

First half

Texas A&M jumped to a 14-0 lead in the first four minutes, on the strength of two blocked punts — one recovered for a touchdown, one leading to a touchdown a couple of plays later. Wake Forest seemed on the verge of getting blown out of the building.

But the Demon Deacons responded by scoring 31 points in a row over the following 15 minutes of action. Wake had a massive 385 yards of offense by the time the first half ended, while A&M had a “measly” 306.

The Deacs scored explosively. They had touchdown passes of 50 and 37 yards and a punt return TD of 59 yards.

A&M’s star receiver, Christian Kirk, also scored on a 52-yard pass from Starkel. The Aggies pushed back from 17 down to get within 10 at the break.

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Pregame

The Texas A&M Aggies shelled out $75 million to bring Jimbo Fisher to campus, but they still have one more game to play before their shiny new head coach can take over. Instead, interim coach Jeff Banks will lead A&M against a game Wake Forest Demon Deacons team Friday in the Belk Bowl. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ESPN (live stream).

The Aggies spent big to lure Fisher, 83-23 and with a national title under his belt in eight seasons at Florida State, to College Station. He’ll succeed Kevin Sumlin, whose track record at the university was littered with hot starts and cold finishes. It’ll be the players Sumlin recruited and molded into starters taking the field with one last chance to honor their coach in the postseason.

Wake Forest has avoided drama in 2017. The Demon Deacons quietly put together a 7-5 season that included wins over Louisville and North Carolina State behind a capable passing attack. A win Friday would mark the program’s first eight-win season since 2008.

Time, TV channel, and streaming info

• Time: 1 p.m. ET
• Location: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.
• TV: ESPN
• Streaming: WatchESPN
• Odds: Wake Forest is favored by 3 points

Wake Forest vs. Texas A&M news:

• Here’s the schedule Fisher is inheriting at A&M. It’s ... not easy.

Texas A&M is one of the better recruiting teams in the country, but it’s not the same perennial top-five talent accumulator that FSU has become. Fisher will take over about the No. 15 roster in the country, according to the 247Sports Team Talent Composite.

But while FSU was long the best recruiter in the ACC, A&M isn’t close to that in the SEC.

• Early signing day gave Wake Forest the chance to go 21 for 21 with its 2018 recruits.

The class, currently rated as 53rd nationally by 247Sports and 12th in the ACC, features 10 defensive players, 10 offensive players, and one special teams player in kicker Nick Sciba out of Clover, SC.

While there is no one guy who sticks out as head and shoulders above the rest, the class is highlighted on offense by 6-5, 280 pound offensive tackle DeVonte Gordon out of Maret School in Washington, D.C., and Pro-Style QB Sam Hartman out of Oceanside Collegiate Academy in Mount Pleasant, SC.

• There aren’t any real surprises on Wake’s pre-bowl depth chart.

• Surprise! Fisher’s A&M staff is loaded with Florida State guys.

This comes on the heels of the Monday announcement of Darrell Dickey as A&M’s offensive coordinator, who will also serve as the quarterbacks coach. Fisher is also bringing with him two more members of his FSU staff in Running Backs Coach Jay Graham and Wide Receivers Coach Dameyune Craig.

Which John Wolford will show up?

The Demon Deacons’ quarterback proved he has the chops to hang with any other passer in the nation with a 461-yard, five-touchdown performance in his team’s win over Louisville. The reason you haven’t heard more about him is because he’s also capable of putting together 16-of-33 passing, two-interception stinkers like he did in his regular season finale against Duke. So which Wolford will the Aggies see Friday?

Wake Forest vs. Texas A&M prediction:

A&M has more overall talent, but when in doubt, pick the team that hasn’t just gone through a major coaching change.

Be sure to check out all our bowl predictions here.

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College football's first bowl game was almost its last