D’Wan Mathis is UGA’s starting QB to kick off 2020 season

D’Wan Mathis’ comeback journey is complete.

The redshirt freshman took the field Saturday as Georgia’s starting quarterback. He will be the first Bulldog other than Jake Fromm to start a game under center since the 2017 season opener.

The decision wasn’t officially revealed until the Bulldogs’ first series of the game.

Mathis came to Georgia as a four-star recruit, but missed last season after undergoing emergency brain surgery to remove a brain cyst in May. He returned to practice later in the season serving as the scout team quarterback.

The Belleville, Michigan, native emerged as a candidate for the job after graduate transfer Jamie Newman opted out of the season due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He battled USC transfer J.T. Daniels throughout camp.

Kirby Smart indicated before the game that Daniels still wasn’t fully cleared for game action. Daniels, however, was in uniform and part of Georgia’s warmups.

Jamie Newman, the Wake Forest graduate transfer believed to have the edge to be UGA’s starting quarterback, instead decided to opt out of the 2020 season and prepare for the upcoming NFL Draft.

SEC football today: Georgia vs. Arkansas

Who: Georgia (0-0) at Arkansas (0-0)

Where: Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas

When: 4 p.m. Saturday

TV: SEC Network

Line: Georgia by 28

Georgia Arkansas football score

This story was originally published September 26, 2020 at 4:05 PM.