SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - When Illinois State's Antonio Adams saw Jordan Chiles' eyes, he knew the Missouri State punter's mind was not focused on the football in his hands.

"He was looking dead at us. He knew we were going to bring the pressure," Adams said. "We blocked a punt last week so I guess he was nervous about us trying to block another punt. He was watching us instead of the ball."

A distracted Chiles achieved only slight contact with the ball, and Adams recovered at the Missouri State 16-yard line early in ISU's 24-14 victory Saturday at Plaster Field.

Four Geno Blow rushes later, and the Redbirds had the game's first touchdown on their way to improving to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

"We missed a punt. I've never had that happen in my days of coaching where a ball dropped and the punter missed the ball," said Missouri State coach Terry Allen. "He (Chiles) said it slipped out of his hands."

ISU's Tony Trujillo was credited with a blocked punt on the play.

"He barely got his foot on it," Adams said. "It bounced off the ground and hit the guy in front of him. It bounced right in front of me and I jumped on it."

White finds end zone: Sophomore tight end Cody White, a Normal West High School graduate, caught his first career touchdown pass in the second quarter on a 15-yard pass from Matt Brown.

"It felt good to finally get one. The corner squatted on Casey (Cline), and I flattened out my route," said White. "Matt threw it up there for me to go get. He let it go pretty fast. He put just enough air under it. It was fun."

White called the victory "a huge steppingstone for what we're calling the second half of the season. They were feeling high and mighty and playing well. To come down here and get a win is a really huge step for our team."

Harbor sets record: Dwight native Clay Harbor caught eight passes for 102 yards for Missouri State. The senior tight end set the Bears' school record for career receptions with 138.

"It doesn't mean anything to me right now," Harbor said. "I really felt we had a chance to run the table. We're not going to make the playoffs. It's real disheartening. But I'll try my best to send the program off on a high note."

Extra points: With 43 yards on 11 carries, ISU senior tailback Geno Blow became the 10th Redbird to reach 2,000 career rushing yards. Blow sits at 2,015 yards.

* Although he has played just eight games, starting seven, Brown already is 17th in school history with 168 completions and 18th with 1,744 passing yards.

* Sophomore linebacker Josh Howe led the Redbirds in tackles for the second straight game with nine. Redshirt freshman linebacker Austin Davis and true freshman linebacker Michael Zimmer had eight each.

* ISU offensive guard Charles Dennis left early in the third quarter with a sprained ankle. Dennis was replaced by converted defensive lineman Keenan Wimbley.