PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) -- On the eve of Halloween, Oregon State receiver Imani Percoats said it was a good time for the surprising Beavers to slay another bogeymen.

"Every time we look up, there's a demon we've got to exorcise," Percoats said after Oregon State's 27-13 victory over Washington State on Saturday.

This latest demon was OSU's nine-game losing streak in Pullman, dating back to 1978. The win left the Beavers (5-3, 2-3 in the Pacific 10) one victory shy of their first winning season since 1970.

"We are not the same Beavers we used to be," said Percoats, who caught four passes for 111 yards. "We're the New Age Beavers, the millennium Beavers."

Coach Dennis Erickson will now focus his team on next week's game against California. A win would give them six victories for the first time since the 1970 team went 6-5. No Oregon State team has won five games this early in the season since 1968.

Erickson praised his defense, which held Washington State (2-6, 1-4) to 303 yards, 97 of them coming on a final drive that gave WSU a meaningless touchdown.

"We dominated the game defensively," Erickson, who was making his first trip to Pullman since he coached WSU in 1987-88, said.

But the Beavers, second in the nation in offense with an average of 498 yards per game, also struggled on a windy day.

With Pac-10 leading rusher Ken Simonton sitting on the bench with bruised ribs, Oregon State managed just a 13-6 lead at halftime.

Erickson was trying to keep Simonton out of the game, but when the offense stalled on the opening drive of the third, he turned to the sophomore.

"He said, 'I feel pretty good coach,' " Erickson recalled.

Simonton became a key component on two long drives, scoring two short touchdowns that opened a 27-6 lead for OSU with 7:30 left in the game.

"My plan was to stay out," Simonton, who gained 41 yards, nearly 100 below his average, said. "I was not too eager to get out there."

But he acknowledged that he provided a spark. "If that was the motivating factor for our line to push them aside ..." Simonton shrugged. "We needed momentum."

Antonio Battle added 86 yards on 26 carries for the Beavers. Quarterback Jonathan Smith, who leads the Pac-10 in total offense, completed 17 of 27 passes for 245 yards and was not intercepted.

Washington State's third quarter woes continued, as they gained just 53 yards and failed to score in the period. They have now been outscored 80-17 in the third quarter this season.

"The third quarter was going to be our big deal," WSU Coach Mike Price said. "We made a big deal of it all week.

"But they took the ball and moved 88 yards," Price said, of the drive that lifted OSU to a 20-6 lead. "It was a beautiful drive that polished us off."

"The defense was making stupid plays, missing tackles, leaving people open," WSU linebacker Curtis Holden, who had 10 tackles, said.

"You can't win if you don't put points on the board," said WSU quarterback Steve Birnbaum, who completed 18 of 34 passes for 194 yards.

Oregon State scored on its first possession on Battle's 1-yard burst up the middle. The score was set up by Percoats' 59-yard reception from Smith.

Deon Burnett fumbled on WSU's next possesion, with Darnell Robinson recovering on the Cougars' 27. But the Beavers had to settle for Ryan Cesca's 22-yard field goal. Robinson finished with eight tackles, three for losses.

Rian Lindell kicked a 32-yard field goal to make the score 10-3 on WSU's next drive. Cesca's 25-yard field goal early in the second quarter gave OSU a 13-3 lead.

The Cougars then stopped OSU twice and got the ball around midfield both times. But all they got was Lindell's 50-yard field goal to cut the Beavers' lead to 13-6 at halftime.

After Oregon State was held to just 47 yards in the second quarter, Simonton entered on OSU's second possession of the second half. He carried four times in the 88-yard drive, the last a 2-yard touchdown run.

Simonton's 1-yard leap into the end zone capped a 71-yard drive with 7:30 left in the game, for a 27-6 Oregon State lead. The touchdown gave Simonton, only a sophomore, 168 career points, tied for first on OSU's all-time scoring list with Troy Bussanich.

Burnett added a late touchdown for the Cougars He gained 112 yards on 20 carries, his fourth consecutive 100-yard game.