Bryce Underwood had one second, one throw and one chance to keep Michigan from opening the Kyle Whittingham era with a loss nobody in Ann Arbor wanted to explain.

His mind apparently wasn’t nearly as complicated as the situation.

After officials restored one second to the clock Saturday night, Underwood launched a 47-yard Hail Mary that JJ Buchanan hauled in for the game-winning touchdown, giving Michigan an improbable 13-12 victory over Western Michigan.

Asked afterward what was going through his head before the play, Underwood pointed directly to the trust Michigan has built around him.

“Honestly, throughout the game, go throughout that last part of the game feel like it was just knowing that my teammates had trusted me and they believed in me to make the last play so that was really, that was all in my mind and I trusted my teammates to make the play for me as well,” Underwood said during Michigan’s postgame interview.

Underwood offered a similarly simple explanation during another postgame interview.

“The thought was give my guys an opportunity, and that’s what I did. Excitement, we built a lot of trust over the last eight or nine months. So, I gave him an opportunity and he made the play,” Underwood told Big Ten Network.

That trust became pretty important considering everything that happened before it.

Underwood completed 12 of 22 passes for 170 yards with one touchdown and one interception, while also rushing for 47 yards and another score. Michigan’s offense went dormant for most of the night, committed three turnovers and needed its defense to keep Western Michigan out of the end zone long enough for one final opportunity.

We already covered Underwood and Buchanan’s remarkable last-second touchdown, but the quarterback’s explanation adds something to the finish.

Underwood didn’t have a great night. Nobody needs to rewrite the first 59 minutes because of the final second. Even Kyle Whittingham made it clear afterward that Michigan’s performance was nowhere near acceptable.

But quarterbacks eventually get judged by what happens when everybody in the stadium knows the football has to be in their hands.

Saturday night, Michigan trusted Underwood with its season opener.

Underwood trusted Buchanan.

One second later, Michigan was 1-0.