What a difference a week makes.

After last week’s loss to Alabama, I bashed Mizzou coach Barry Odom’s decision to punt on a fourth-and-short play inside Alabama territory. I said when you play a team like the Crimson Tide, and you’re already down 17, you have nothing to lose and can’t play scared.

So, this week, I will absolutely give credit where credit is due. Let’s talk about the play that rejuvenated Mizzou’s season and might ultimately save the struggling offense.

The situation: Fourth and 1 on the Mizzou 34-yard line, with the Tigers leading Memphis 20-17. With 9:16 left in the second quarter, the Tigers were prepared to snap the ball — a decision that was being questioned by many fans and members of the media — when Memphis called a timeout at the last second.

With extra time to think about the decision, the Tigers could have easily punted. Instead, Odom (and offensive coordinator Derek Dooley) kept the offense on the field. The result? It wasn’t a great throw from quarterback Drew Lock, but wide receiver Johnathon Johnson — who has had some notable drops this year — hauled it in and kept the drive alive.

On the next play, Lock made a much better throw to wide-open tight end Albert Okwuegbunam for a 58-yard touchdown. The Tigers then scored touchdowns on their next three possessions to put the game out of reach.

I’m guessing Odom doesn’t read my columns, but it’s clear there was some pressure from somewhere to change things up a bit. That fourth-down play call was out of character, but it was exactly what Lock and the Tigers needed to snap out of their funk.

Lock finished with 350 passing yards and four touchdowns. He also added 36 yards as a runner. Larry Rountree III racked up 118 rushing yards and three touchdowns on only nine carries.

I’ll quickly list some negatives just to get them out of the way. Memphis lost the nation’s leading rusher, Darrell Henderson, early in the game to an injury. The Tigers still gave up 408 total yards to a Group of 5 team (albeit a tough G5 team). The pass defense looks lost at times. Plenty of tough teams remain on the schedule.

Now, for the positives. Lock is back. Albert O looks unstoppable. Jalen Knox is a stud. There aren’t any elite passing teams left on the Tigers’ schedule. The defense got some big takeaways and lots of pressure on Memphis QB Brady White.

The balance between the positives and the negatives seems to shift every week, but Saturday showed what can happen when this Mizzou team is firing on all cylinders. There were some tense moments late in the first quarter and early in the second but Odom, Dooley, Lock and Johnson put all those concerns to rest with that fourth-and-1 play in their own territory.

There’s still a lot of work to do, of course, but the Tigers left their homecoming game in a much better place than after the Alabama game. With Kentucky and star RB Benny Snell Jr. coming to town next weekend, Odom and Dooley should continue to be aggressive against a team that has been one of the SEC East’s best.

After giving up 200 yards on the ground to a Memphis team without the nation’s leading rusher, facing the SEC’s leading rusher won’t be easy. Whatever happens, the Tigers appear to be playing with confidence after the coaching staff trusted them in a key situation, so the coming weeks should be a lot of fun to watch.