AUBURN | Auburn deserves better than this.

I don’t write that to point fingers or throw shade at anyone, but it’s been a long four years and Auburn, without a doubt, deserves a better football team than what was on display at Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday.

Every player, coach, staff and administrator should know that too.

You can’t go through Tiger Walk, watch the eagle soar, step on the field and look up at the overflowing stands and hear the roar of the crowd and not have a full understanding of how special Auburn is and will always be.

Luke Deal knows this. He’s an old-timer like me (kinda).

“This is my sixth year, and I have had a bunch of mediocre seasons and that’s not what we’re trying to get accomplished this year,” said Deal.

“Anything less than what our goal is and our expectations are — whatever we put out there on the field — anything less than that is on me, that’s on the other captains and the guys who drive this culture.”

Auburn hasn’t had a winning season since going 6-5 in 2020. It hasn’t won 10 games since 2017 and hasn’t won a championship of any kind since 2013.

With Saturday’s 21-14 loss at Jordan-Hare, the Tigers took a step back in avoiding a fourth consecutive losing season for the first time since the 1950 team went 0-10 to cap off a stretch of five consecutive losing seasons.

It’s all just exhausting.

Now, it’s way too early in the season to draw too many conclusions, but Cal at home is a game Auburn should win.

If you were eyeing-up the schedule in the offseason, the Tigers had six games they *should win* including the first four at home and home games against Vanderbilt and ULM in November.

There are two road games that Auburn would be expected to lose at Georgia and Alabama. AU hasn’t won in Athens since 2005 when Tommy Tuberville was in charge and hasn’t won at Alabama since the Camback in 2010.

And there are four potential swing games — home against Oklahoma and Texas A&M and away against Missouri and Kentucky.

Who knows how it will all turn out over the next 12 weeks but Auburn needs to hold serve with the rest of the *should wins* and win two of those swing games just to secure a winning season.

The hope and promise of a Hugh Freeze-led program that is bringing much-needed tangible results on the recruiting trail, can turn quickly. And that top 5 class can disappear in a snap.

It can also turn the other way in a snap too.

This is not the time to abandon ship. There’s 10 more games left to play in the regular season.

It’s time to buckle up.

There needs to be better coaching and better execution on the field, especially on offense. It’s time to see some of that proof of concept.

A winning season isn’t an unfair expectation. It should never be at Auburn.

No more talk, no excuses, just do it.

Do it for Auburn. The alumni, fans and everybody that supports and loves this school deserves more.

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In today’s musical journey, we go back 53 years to the release of one of the most popular singles of all time from a legendary artist. On Sept. 9, 1971, John Lennon’s “Imagine” was released in the U.S. Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, wrote the lyrics and composed the song with the help of legendary producer Phil Spector. Several poem’s from Ono’s 1964 book, Grapefruit, inspired the song, which focuses on a world at peace without borders or materialism. It received criticism for a couple of lines regarding religion including the opening, “Imagine there’s no heaven,” and “Nothing to kill or die for; And no religion, too.” In an interview with Playboy magazine, Lennon explained that “Imagine” is not about a world without religions, but with no denominations of religion and no, “My God is bigger than your God.” The song has been covered by more than 200 artists over the past five decades including Elton John, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Dolly Parton, Madonna, Pink and Lady Gaga. It was initially ranked third on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest song of all time in 2004 but was 19th on the updated 2024 list. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress. It has become a staple of the Olympics Opening Ceremonies.

John Winston Lennon was born in Liverpool in 1940. He was named after his grandfather, John Lennon, and UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill. His father was a merchant seaman, who had no contact with Lennon after he turned five. He was raised by his aunt, Mimi Smith, one of five sisters. His mother, Julia, the youngest of the sisters, remained an important part of his upbringing too. During visits with Julia, she would play him Elvis records and teach him to play the banjo. She bought him his first guitar in 1956, but was killed two years later when she was struck by a car. Lennon was a bit of a troublemaker in school, but formed his first group, the Quarrymen, in 1956. Paul McCartney joined the group in 1957 and George Harrison, who was just 14 at the time, the next year. They became the Beatles in 1960 with Ringo Starr replacing Pete Best as drummer in 1962. With Lennon and McCartney writing most of their songs, the Beatles became the most successful and most popular band of all time. They had a record 15 No. 1 albums in the UK and a record 20 No. 1 singles in the U.S. The Beatles broke up in 1969 and Lennon released his first solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band in 1970. He went on to create eight solo studio albums and had two No. 1 singles in 1974’s “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night” and 1980’s “(Just Like) Starting Over.” He had a number of other successful singles including 1970’s “Instant Karma,” 1981’s “Woman” and “Watching the Wheels,” and 1984’s "Nobody Told Me.” Lennon was shot to death by a deranged fan in New York on Dec. 8, 1980. “Imagine” initially peaked at No.6 on the UK singles chart but reached No. 1 shortly after his death.