The NRA has a message for the UCLA offense after Saturday’s spring game: Time to rename the offense.

For roughly half of UCLA’s spring game at the Rose Bowl on Saturday night, the Revolver offense packed all the punch of a water pistol.

All the progress made during 14 spring practices negated by an inconsistent running game and a passing game that lacked timing.

“I’m a little disappointed, and I told them so,” offensive coordinator Norm Chow said. “We’ve been practicing very well, but we for some reason came over here, and it didn’t seem like we came out on fire. We needed to get going a little earlier than we did.”

While the UCLA running game appeared to make strides – particularly during a late drive capped off by a four-yard Derrick Coleman touchdown run – the passing game bore the brunt of Chow and head coach Rick Neuheisel’s frustration.

Sophomore quarterback Kevin Prince finished 5-of-13 passing for 72 yards with an interception and no scores and sophomore Richard Brehaut went 3-for-9 for 34 yards. The Bruins’ only passing touchdown? Ted Landers to tight end Andrew Yelich for 15 yards on the last play of the night.

“It wasn’t vintage Kevin,” Neuheisel said. “There were some balls he left out there. You only have a certain amount of protection time. You’re looking down the field for something that chances are very small you’re going to hit.”

While the Revolver offense is in place to maximize the effect of the quarterback in the running game, Prince didn’t get to show much. The running game improved with time – Coleman finishing with 64 yards on six carries and Johnathan Franklin tallying 47 yards on 18 rushes and a touchdown – but the quarterbacks were limited.

Prince was called down on contact in the backfield – and often, with the defense ringing up eight sacks, including two by junior Datone Jones – and the UCLA coaches did not want to reveal too much to the opposition come September.

“It’s frustrating; I was getting pretty mad,” Prince said. “You do all that work, put on weight so you can break those tackles. There were a few where I would’ve broken loose, I’m 100 percent sure of it. They called it down, and I understand why. But it’s just a little discouraging – you know in a real game situation, our offense would’ve been producing better.