FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – After weeks of speculation, it is official. D’Wan Mathis is starting at quarterback for Saturday’s season-opener at Arkansas.

After warming up with the first unit, the redshirt freshman trotted onto the field with the first offense for today’s opening series against the Razorbacks.

His appearance marks one of the better feel-good stories in all of college football, as it was 16 months ago in May of 2019 when Mathis underwent a craniotomy to remove a cyst from his brain.

When players reported to campus back in June, Mathis was an afterthought, according to some.

After all, at that time the Bulldogs had graduate transfer Jamie Newman-the apparent heir-apparent to Jake Fromm, along with Southern Cal transfer JT Daniels.

However, after Newman elected to opt out and Daniels’ surgically repaired knee still not responding at the rate that was hoped, Mathis was able to take advantage of we’re told was a strong summer and camp to propel himself into the starting role.

As for Daniels, the former five star did make the trip to Fayetteville. Prior to the game, head coach Kirby Smart told the SEC Network that he was not yet cleared to play but still hoped he would be prior to kickoff.

That leaves true freshman Carson Beck and junior Stetson Bennett to serve as backups for today’s game.