A Week in Review
Thanksgiving weekend gave ASU fans plenty to be thankful for as the Sun Devils provided the first gift of the holiday season with a victory to retain the Territorial Cup for a third consecutive year. Outside of giving up a 2nd quarter touchdown, the Sun Devils dominated the game. Eno Benjamin’s going out party was impressive, and he certainly cemented his desired status as the most hated man in Tucson and looked good doing so.
Speaking of looking good, the Sun Devils wore fantastic uniforms as they dismantled their rival. Over the past few seasons, it has become a tradition that the Sun Devils wear Sparky helmets for Homecoming. That didn’t happen this season. Homecoming doubled as the Maroon Monsoon game which the Sun Devils won against Oregon. There was another motivating factor in delaying the Sparky helmet as well.
For years, Jerry Neilly has been trying to get both teams in the Territorial Cup rivalry on board with a color vs. color game. He was finally successful in that this year. The Sun Devils wore their traditional gold Sparky helmet/maroon jersey/gold Sparky pant combination while their rivals wore their white/blue/white uniform combination. It gave a proper level of respect to a rivalry that is widely regarded as the most heated in the country. The game looked great with both teams wearing their colors, but the Sun Devils very easily outshone their opponent. The team can never go wrong in wearing the Sparky uniform combination. It’s a crowd-pleaser and it truly looks great. Even better when the game ends with the Sun Devils hoisting the Territorial Cup. With that win, the Sparky helmet is now 2-0 in the Herm Edwards era as well.
Sparky/Maroon/Gold: A+
The Week to Come
Uniform
After handling business and keeping the Territorial Cup home, the Sun Devils increased their bowl stock by earning their seventh win of the season. That led to a Sun Bowl berth against the Florida State Seminoles. The Seminoles are a traditional power but had a season full of struggles. They come into the game having earned six wins in a season that saw them fire their head coach, Willie Taggert. They have also recently hired a new head coach who happens to be former ASU offensive coordinator Mike Norvell. While Norvell has been involved with some game-planning and recruiting, he will not be on the sideline, but the storyline certainly adds intrigue to this New Year’s Eve bowl game. The Sun Devils will want to look good as they play this storied program and they have just the uniform for that.
For the first time ever, the Sun Devils will wear a gold helmet/black jersey/black pant uniform combination. The heathered black jersey features a sublimated Arizona state flag in representing the sunset and the star across the chest in lieu of identifying text which is now on the back of the jersey. The gold player numbers on the uniforms are outlined in maroon on both the front and back of the jersey, as are the TV numbers on the sleeves.
The nameplate on the back of the jersey utilizes the gold Sun Devil Bold font and above the nameplate is a small, gold “ASU” outlined in maroon. On the front of the jersey, near the left shoulder, is a gold adidas logo and a Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl patch. Near the right shoulder is a black and gold Pac 12 shield and a white and gray “150” patch signifying the 150th season of college football as well. Last, but not least, at the base of the collar is the black PT*42 shield in honor of ASU Football legend, Pat Tillman.
The black pants have a small gold pitchfork with maroon trim near the right hip and a gold adidas logo near the left hip. Running vertically along the side of the left thigh is “Sun Devils” in gold Sun Devil Bold font. There is paneling on the pants that features the darker tonal color, not only providing further visual dimension to the uniform as a whole, but also serving a purpose in providing a greater range of motion.
Helmet
This week’s gold helmet is very similar looking to the helmet we saw earlier in the season against Oregon. In fact, the details are identical to the helmet worn against Oregon except for one detail: the color of the decals. The gold helmet features a gold facemask, black chinstrap, and standard-sized gold pitchfork decals with black trim. Against Oregon, the single maroon center stripe gave the modern helmet the iconic ASU look. This helmet also has a center stripe, but just like the other decals, it will be black making for a bold helmet mixing tradition and innovation.
The front bumpers on this week’s helmet are both 2D and 3D with a gold base and maroon font that reads PT*42, also honoring the legendary Sun Devil, Pat Tillman. The black decals on the back of the helmet include the Pac 12 shield, the outline of the state of Arizona with a small pitchfork over Tempe, and even the text in the Warning label. The decals on the back of the helmet are completed by a black rear bumper decal with maroon text and two small Sparky decals on either side of the rear bumper itself.
Cleats & Socks
To match the black jersey and pants, ASU will wear black cleats. The two sets of cleats pictured below feature the adidas Adi-Zero cleats on the top row and adidas Freaks on the bottom. The Adi-Zeroes are typically worn by speed position players (wide receivers and defensive backs), while the Freaks are typically worn by heavier players (linebackers and linemen).
Beginning with the top row, the Adi-Zero on the left features a black base and black sole, a black tongue, black laces, three white adidas stripes near the toe on the outside of the shoe, and a prominent white adidas logo on the instep near the arch. The Adi-Zero in the middle is a standard low-top Adi-Zero Primeknit. It boasts all the same basic features but has some great accents near the toe. The pair on the far right is a mid-top Adi-Zero Primeknit and has all the same features as Primknit low, but the black opening rises higher up on the ankle.
The pairs of adidas Freaks on the left and in the middle also feature a black base and sole, with three white adidas stripes near the ankle on the outside of the shoes and three maroon adidas stripes near the arch on the instep. They both also have a black tongue and black laces. The Freak low-top is on the far left and Freak mid-top is in the middle, rising higher up the ankle. The pair of cleats second to the right is the Freak Ultra Primeknit. The black cleat also has a three white adidas stripes near the ankle on the outside of the shoe and has a textured black pattern on the inside of the shoe. The Freak Torsion on the far right has a black base and sole. It also has three white adidas stripes on the outside of the shoe. There is a very large white adidas logo on the inside of the shoe. The tongue and large shoelaces are both black, and a small, blacks adidas “Freak” logo can be found on the white heel loop.
Along with the black cleats, the Sun Devils will also be wearing black socks.
Gloves
The Sun Devils will wear black gloves this week, and as with the cleats, there are different gloves for different positions. The gloves on the top are Adi-Zeros which are typically worn by speed position players like wide receivers and defensive backs. It has been trendy across football that when the palms of gloves are placed together, the two hands create a complete image. This year’s edition of Adi-Zero gloves strays away from that trend. Each glove features a maroon pitchfork with gold trim overlaying a tonal black and gray state flag pattern on the palm of each glove. They also have a white adidas logo on the back of the hand and gold accents on the knuckles and the wrist-wrap.
The gloves in the middle are adidas Freaks, worn by larger skill position players such as linebackers and tight ends. The adidas Freak gloves have a pattern of small, repeating adidas logos that are maroon in color on the black palm, along with a large black adidas logo outlined in gold that is completed when the palms are placed together. The adidas Freaks also have a white adidas logo on the back of the hand and gold accents on the knuckles and the wrist-wrap. Finally, for linemen, the gloves on the bottom are adidas Freak-Max, which boasts extra padding on the heel of the palm meant to withstand all of the contact that linemen endure throughout the course of a game. They are plain black on the palm and along with a gold adidas logo on the back of the hand, they also have a gold accent on the wrist-wrap and maroon accents. on the knuckles.
Travel Gear
In earning a bowl berth, the Sun Devils were given some new travel gear for their trip to El Paso. The Sun Devils were given black, Climalite hoodies and pants from adidas. The hoodie has a white adidas logo near the left shoulder and a black pitchfork with gold trim near the right shoulder.
On the shoulder of the right arm is a small Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl patch.
The Sun Devils were also given some of the newly released Harden Vol. 4 shoes customized to Arizona State’s maroon and gold colors. These new shoes have a maroon base on the toe and heal as well as on the bottom on the shoe with gold accents near the top opening of the shoes. There are also some smaller, more subtle gold accents on the toe and across the ball of the foot on the sole of the shoe. The shoes have maroon shoelaces and a white Harden logo on the heel of the shoes. As the kids say, “These shoes are fire.”
Reaction
The Sun Devils closed out the 2019 regular season with a bang in winning their final 2 games and looking sharp in incredible uniforms while doing so. They look to continue that trend against Florida State in the Sun Bowl. As far as history is concerned, this Seminoles team is below par for what that program expects. However, even though they enter the Sun Bowl with a barely bowl eligible six wins, they still pose a threat and the Devils want to be up to the task.
One thing for sure is that the Sun Devils are going to visually look incredible. In debuting a first-time uniform combination and including new decals on a gold helmet, Jerry Neilly and his staff are most definitely keeping the team looking fresh. With a season-long limitation on helmet colors, reliance upon creativity with decals and facemasks was the name of the game, and this equipment staff came through in a big way. Seeing this helmet with this uniform combination on the field against Florida State on New Year’s Eve is going to be a treat for the eyes.
What Color Traveling ASU Fans Should Wear: Gold
#Faniforms
“Faniforms” are the sets of gear that you, the fans, wear on game day to support the Sun Devils. I invite anyone reading to post pictures of their Faniforms on Twitter so that I may share them with the rest of Sun Devil Nation! To do so, use the hashtag #Faniforms and tag the Uniformity twitter account at @ASU_Uniformity. There has been an incredible response this season, and it has been great to see what all the fans wear to support their Sun Devils on gameday. I am going to be posting a few here in the Uniformity article each week. They will be chosen at random, so keep on sending them in every week! Here are a few of the #Faniforms from the last game:
