PULLMAN, Wash. - Victory for the Oregon State football team came by the numbers Saturday.

The Beavers jumped out to a big lead against Washington State, suffered a midgame lull and finished strong in the 42-10 Pacific-10 Conference win in Martin Stadium.

At times the offense looked unstoppable when it charged out of the gate with three straight touchdown drives to begin the game. Minor breakdowns stalled drives other times.

"Our first three drives were money," quarterback Sean Canfield said. "We were running on all cylinders. The last two or three (of the half) were obviously not productive."

Canfield was his steady self with 231 passing yards and two touchdowns, but he did throw one bad pass as Xavier Hicks intercepted him when he didn't read the defense properly.

He threw short, which made it easy for Hicks to step in front of tight end Joe Halahuni. Canfield should have lofted the ball deep for his receiver.

"The pick hurt," Canfield said. "And after that they had the ball for a long time. It was a closer game than it should have been at halftime. But in the second half we got it going."

OSU didn't move the ball as well for the rest of the half after the interception. That allowed the Cougars to gain momentum and score right before halftime to cut OSU's lead to 21-10.

The Beavers got the running game going in the second half, finishing with 283 yards, including 165 by Jacquizz Rodgers.

"It was little things," Canfield said. "We just hit a lull for whatever reason. We'll look at the film and see what it was exactly. They made plays. They didn't give up by any means."

The defense played a solid all-around game. The Beavers forced only one turnover and had one quarterback sack, but the Cougars were forced to punt eight times.

The field goal came from a short field and the touchdown drive was aided by 45 penalty yards.

"They converted on some key third downs and they got some penalties that went their way," linebacker Keaton Kristick said. "They got in good position to score. But they are a well-coached team. They fought for that touchdown."

Coach Mike Riley didn't like the penalties, but was happy with the focus of his team. The Beavers were 31-point favorites and still took Washington State seriously.

And they needed to because the Cougars played with a passion since it was their last home game and were hungry for a win. They have lost eight straight.

"We needed to win this game, and it was hard - just like we thought it would be," Riley said. "I thought (the Cougars) played better than they played (before). They caused us some problems. It's never quite like you want it to be. I'm glad we won. There were a lot of things we would have liked to have done better, but that's life."