This was a must win — and they won. What now?

No. 4 Oregon acrobatics and tumbling (2-1) pulled out a second-half victory to defeat No. 3 Gannon University (2-4) on Friday night. The Ducks stumbled out of the gate, but a new multi-season high score in tumbling erased all doubt as Oregon came out of the bye week with a win.

Here’s what we learned from the Ducks’ latest victory.

The bye week gives and takes

The Ducks immediately struggled coming off their first bye week of the season. Oregon scored season-lows in all three first-half events and had uncharacteristic issues across the board — an omitted skill and multiple falls or near-falls. Head coach Taylor Susnara said afterwards that the bye week can, “sometimes create a bit of lax,” and it showed up early as the Ducks didn’t perform to their standard.

However, that time spent on bye paid off later on. Oregon swept the second-half events, posting a season-high in tumbling and a remarkably clean team event, to eventually ease to victory. Some of that was Gannon’s inefficiencies. The Knights — who lost multiple tumblers in the offseason — had very low start values in the first three tumbling heats, but the rest was Oregon — which showed the mental strength that Susnara talks about to pull off the comeback.

The bye week gives and takes. For the Ducks, it paid off in the end.

Tumbling might be this team’s strongest event

The immediate reaction is to name the pyramid Oregon’s strongest event — it’s where it has scored a perfect-10 two years in a row. 

But the tumbling is too strong to ignore. The Ducks’ six heats — all 10.0 start values — averaged a 9.670 against the Knights, more than Gannon’s average start value in the event (9.26). Oregon has multiple freshmen who don’t look out of place in the event.

Plus, it’s in a crucial spot. Every event is important, but the Ducks continually perform well in the final non-team event — against Baylor, it was where they closed the gap to less than two points. This past weekend, it was where Oregon extended its lead to a near-unassailable position and scored its highest total since 2017. 

This team can have multiple great events — it’s all-inclusive. But tumbling might be the most important, and the Ducks excel in it.

Time to build

Now back above .500 on the season, Oregon enters a gauntlet of top-eight matchups to end the year. The Ducks will face four of the top eight (and three of the top five), in the next month. Three of those meets are on the road. 

But Oregon can’t afford a break — no, this is time to stack wins. Its eyes are on a high seed in the NCATA Championship, and the opportunities are there to claim it. 

Against No. 5 Mary Hardin-Baylor, the Ducks will have their last home meet. Against No. 8 Iona and No. 2 Quinnipiac, they’ll compete two meets less than a week apart. Against No. 1 Baylor, they’ll have one more shot at the top of the table. Their schedule is loaded with chances to prove themselves.

Now, they’ve to pull it off.

Oregon takes on Mary Hardin-Baylor on March 14 at Matthew Knight Arena.