The University of Nebraska football program may have gotten its biggest victory after the 2017 season. Small-town Nebraska native and nationally acclaimed coach Scott Frost was announced as the new head coach. The announcement came 20 years after Frost, as a player, led Nebraska to its most recent national championship in 1997.

It sounds like a script.

As a high school senior, Frost left his home state to play football at Stanford. He left a premier program and a legendary coach, Tom Osborne.

Many felt he eschewed his Husker inheritance. But when he transferred to Nebraska and led them to a national championship, he won them over.

Then he left again.

As offensive coordinator at the University of Oregon, Frost was behind some of the most potent and innovative offenses in college football history. Then he was head coach at the University of Central Florida where he directed their program to the greatest two-year turnaround in college football history (0-12 in 2015 to 13-0 in 2017).

Nebraskans watched Frost’s historic success from afar, while our program went kaput.

On Saturday, December 2, 2017, the state was hoisted back into God’s favor (I’m kidding) when the University of Nebraska announced Frost will be Nebraska’s next head coach.

Nebraskans like the forecast. We hope he can bring a fallen program back to prominence. We hope he can free us from mediocrity and bring us glory again.

Jesus stepped into a similar situation. When Jesus was announced as Messiah, people hoped He could bring a fallen people back to prominence. They hoped He could free the Jews from the Roman yoke and bring them glory again.

Athlete, sports are sometimes as unpredictable as rolling dice. Frost’s teams may fail. Potential does not equal production. You know this from experience. Maybe you had a loaded team and finished sixth in the conference.

The good news is winning or losing in sports is of little importance in the grand scheme of life. But for Jesus, the stakes were as high as they get. Our destiny depended on Jesus’ victory over sin and death. We were to rise or fall based on His performance.

If Frost is successful, it will only mean factory-made trophies and short-term fame. Those are low-stakes. But God’s victory is renowned throughout all space and time. Those are high-stakes.

We may not be assured of victory with Frost at the helm of our team. But with Jesus, our victory is sure. When we are playing on His team, even if we lose the game, we win.