"You have to take the wins with losses," said junior defensive back, Markel Gladney.
 
Gladney feels the hard-fought defeats the Tigers endured in the non-conference portion of the schedule will translate into added motivation as the team heads into the meat of the schedule.
 
"Coming into the season, I felt like we would have beat every team that we played, and I still feel like we could've beaten them," Gladney shared. "God had another plan. I feel that He is humbling us ahead of conference play."
 
As the Tigers prepare to play rival Grambling, Gladney also remains humble and will never forget where he came from.
 
"It feels good" for the Jackson native to receive his only Division I offer from Jackson State after graduating from Callaway High School in 2017. Gladney took the offer after being talked into it by his mom, Markena.
 
"She graduated from Jackson State," Gladney said. "My mom is right around the corner. She can come to all my games. I was like, 'I am not about to turn down a D1 offer.' So, I came."
 
Though the team has had their ups and downs during the preseason, Gladney and the team still have high expectations of dominating during SWAC play to finish the season as SWAC champions and to play in the Celebration Bowl.
 
"I feel like we can dominate the SWAC with the talent that we have on the team," Gladney said.
 
Since being at Jackson State, Gladney shared that the team has never had so much talent on offense before. 
 
An offense that brings a certain level of competition every day. "It just makes you hungry to get better," Gladney said.
 
"When we're playing ball, like Jackson State supposed to play football — can't nobody beat us," Gladney said.