Oklahoma's College Football Playoff hopes in trouble after getting exposed at Michigan

No. 10 Oklahoma gave up just 263 yards but turned the ball over twice and lost 17-10 to No. 24 Michigan, encapsulating the defining aspect of the Brent Venables era: the one-dimensional Sooners have never put everything together.

Last year’s at-large College Football Playoff berth gave Venables greater job security with a massive contract extension and an impressive preseason ranking but ignored the questions about whether OU had the offense to live up to expectations.

The loss in Ann Arbor supports the preseason skepticism. Despite returning quarterback John Mateer and offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle while adding through the transfer portal, the Sooners don’t have the personnel or scheme to be placed alongside the best teams in the SEC and Power Four.

They definitely don’t have the quarterback. Mateer plays a physical style that suited him well at Washington State, but he lacks the arm and pocket presence to overcome the continued inability this offense has to create a competent running game and protect the quarterback on obvious passing downs.

Against top competition, this lack of balance puts pressure on Mateer to carry the entire load. Forcing the issue led to a crucial underthrown interception in the fourth quarter that allowed Michigan to post the go-ahead score. There’s no reason to think this will change when the schedule shifts to SEC play.

But that’s all moot, anyway. Based on what’s ahead, the loss to the Wolverines is essentially a death sentence for the Sooners’ goal of returning to the playoff and making more than a one-and-done visit.

Over the next month, the Sooners will host one of the best Group of Six teams in New Mexico and then face No. 2 Georgia and No. 3 Texas away from home. After a run against Kentucky, Mississippi State, South Carolina and Florida, they end the regular season against No. 11 Mississippi, No. 9 Texas A&M and No. 23 Missouri.

Things can change, and there are often one-off results during the regular season that paint an inaccurate picture of the winners and losers — such as OU beating Alabama last October but losing to the Crimson Tide in the playoff’s opening round.

But this is a fair question coming out of Ann Arbor: Does the same team that flopped against a wobbled opponent coming off a controversial season opener have a better shot at heading into the second half of October at 4-1 or 3-2 and alive in the playoff chase or being 2-3 or worse and playing out the string for a minor postseason appearance?

The program’s unpredictability under Venables is a feature, not a bug. That’s become part and parcel of accepting what he does bring to the table and do extremely well — built elite defenses, namely, which this year’s ground can certainly be. That will keep them in most games.

But this team is not a complete one. The other option is that Michigan is one of the best teams in the country, and Western Michigan would like to have a word about that.

That’s not to say Saturday’s result won’t carry national meaning for as deep into the regular season as the final playoff rankings. It’s inevitable that the SEC and Big Ten are compared and contrasted during the selection committee’s process, providing a data point to suggest why the Big Ten might deserve the benefit of the doubt for a fourth or fifth playoff team.

The SEC will have a counter argument, as always. But the loss to the Wolverines means OU won’t be part of that debate.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Oklahoma's College Football Playoff hopes in trouble after getting exposed at Michigan