On Saturday, shortly before kickoff of the Georgia-South Carolina game, news broke that Bulldogs QB D’Wan Mathis had not made the trip to Columbia and was leaving the team.

The postgame press conference of UGA’s 45-16 win over South Carolina provided the first opportunity for media members to ask Smart about Mathis.

“D’Wan and I have had several conversations,” Smart told reporters. “D’wan has been very communicative. He’s handled things really well. The stuff that goes on with D’Wan and our team and us is really a team-related deal so I’m not really going to comment on it. But D’Wan’s handled everything with first class.”

A redshirt freshman who had emergency brain surgery in 2019, Mathis has appeared in four games this season, including his season-opening start at Arkansas. Mathis is 12-of-30 passing for 89 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions on the year.

After Mathis’ struggles in the season-opener, Georgia turned to former walk-on Stetson Bennett IV. USC transfer JT Daniels has started UGA’s last two games.

The original Dawgs247 report on Mathis leaving the team stated he is expected to enter the NCAA transfer portal. A 4-star prospect from Oak Park (Michigan) in the class of 2019, Mathis flipped his commitment from Ohio State to Georgia during the Early Signing Period (Dec. 19, 2018). He also had 11 total scholarship offers, including Kentucky and South Carolina.