ATHENS — Any time Kirby Smart says “cut loose,” Georgia fans are bound to get excited.

Carson Beck does, too, and that’s why there’s great optimism the No. 5-ranked Bulldogs might put on a show of offensive firepower against Mississippi State in today’s 4:15 p.m. game at Sanford Stadium.

Beck, once a projected Top 10 NFL draft pick and preseason Heisman Trophy favorite, is not having the sort of statistical success some envisioned.

Beck, instead, ranks just 34th in pass efficiency rating (157.61) — ninth among SEC quarterbacks — just a smidgen ahead of Auburn’s Payton Thorne (156.58).

It’s important to note that Beck lost All-American tight end Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey in the NFL Draft, both players now starting and top targets for their respective professional teams.

Beck is also down two top veteran receivers this season, too, with “X” targets RaRa Thomas (dismissed) and Colbie Young (suspended) no longer on the sideline.

Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby, one of the top offensive minds in college football, believes there’s still plenty of talent.

“They’ve got an incredibly deep room, you see guys that are capable, whether it’s the first series of the game or the last series of the game,” Lebby said. “They’re not going to be with a shortage by any means.”

Indeed, UGA’s top four pass-catching targets are still in the rotation, and another star tight end is emerging and has been the No. 6 pass-catching target through the first five games:

• Dominic Lovett, 22 catches, 252 yards

• Arian Smith, 18 catches, 278 yards

• Dillon Bell, 18 catches, 216 yards

• Trevor Etienne, 11 catches, 72 yards

*• Colbie Young, 11 catches, 149 yards

• Lawson Luckie, 7 catches, 135 yards

(*-no longer on active roster)

Lebby notes that Beck, a fifth-year senior, remains plenty capable of finding the open man, too.

“The guy’s got great control, he knows exactly what’s being asked of him,” Lebby said. “I think he can make every single throw, he’s more athletic than I think people at times give him credit for. I think he’s playing really well.”

And today, against Lebby’s Maroon Bulldogs, Beck might be ready to cut loose.