A Week in Review
Dominance. Five straight years spanning four separate coaching staffs all have yielded the same result: the Sun Devils winning. That’s five consecutive years of the Territorial Cup staying where it belongs in Tempe. During those years, we’ve seen results span from fourth-quarter comebacks and timely turnovers to an awesomely embarrassing final score and games that were never in question. The 2021 edition of this game was never in question. Even with a slow start, there was never any doubt in the stadium as to what the final result would be. A dominant Sun Devil victory was imminent and was made more appropriate by the other team’s choices that took place before the game even began. One of those decisions was to stomp on Sun Devil Legend Brian Johnson’s final midfield artwork before he retired and then knocking one of his field crewmen to the ground. Classless. But since we’re here to talk about uniforms, then we can talk about the other choice from the new coaching staff to reject the budding tradition of an all-color game. Instead of participating, the other team wore a uniform as plain and boring as their football performance that day. They looked terrible, while on the other side of the ball, the Sun Devils looked amazing.
The Sparky helmet, maroon jersey, gold pants combination is the quintessential ASU Football aesthetic. It never goes out of style and is always a fan favorite. The classic colors with that glorious, smiling imp on the side of the helmet make up one of the most recognizable uniforms in college football. As long as the Devils wear that combination, it’s a certainty that they’ll look better than their opponent, whoever that may be, but it was especially true in this case and made even more true with the fact that the pettiness of the opponent carried over into not participating in color vs. color uniform combinations. Perfection lined up against a blank canvas, and the Sun Devils outshone their opponent with ease.
Sparky Helmet/Maroon Jersey/Gold Pants: A+
The Week to Come
Uniform
The Sun Devils closed out the 2021 regular season with an 8-4 record, which was below the high expectations set prior to the beginning of the year. There were highs and lows throughout, but the end result was an above-average season with a 5th straight Territorial Cup title and a bid to the Las Vegas Bowl to take on a challenging Wisconsin team. Both teams will be missing players due to opt-outs, so it will be interesting to see how these teams stack up this coming Thursday. This is the first time these two schools are facing off since the chaotic ending to a regular-season game in 2013. The Sun Devils wore all black for a Blackout that game. For this game, the Devils will be wearing a maroon helmet/gold jersey/gold pant uniform combination.
The gold “Valley Heat” Reverse Retro uniform has some elements old and new intertwined into a new, iconic look that boasts a gold helmet/gold jersey/maroon pant combination. The primary template utilized is reminiscent of Arizona State’s 1996 jersey, infamous as the style that the Rose Bowl team and Sun Devil Pat Tillman wore.
There is a maroon plain text, all-caps “ARIZONA STATE” on the front chest of the jersey paired with block maroon numbers with a metallic gold border. There is a metallic gold Pac 12 shield with the maroon font on the right shoulder and a maroon adidas logo on the left shoulder. The nameplate on the back uses the same classic text font as well. The shoulders boast a stylized Arizona state flag with maroon and metallic gold stripes, as well as a maroon star outlined with metallic gold. There are also additional maroon player numbers with metallic gold borders atop each shoulder.
The gold pants have a small gold pitchfork with black trim near the right hip and a maroon adidas logo near the left hip. “Sun Devils” is in maroon Sun Devil Bold font running vertically along the side of the left thigh. There is paneling on the pants that features the darker tonal gold, not only providing further dimension to the uniform as a whole but also serving a purpose in providing a greater range of motion
Helmet
The maroon helmet uses a candy finish color shift paint job. The surface of the helmet directly in front of the eye will appear as the candy maroon finish, but the angles from which light hits the helmet will shift to gold. The helmet features maroon standard-sized pitchforks decals with Vegas gold trim to match the Vegas gold accents on the sleeve of the gold jerseys. The helmet also has a center stripe decal with a maroon center base bordered by thinner Vegas gold stripes. The facemask is maroon, and the front bumper has a maroon base and gold font that reads PT*42 honoring the legendary Sun Devil, Pat Tillman. An added element to the PT*42 front bumper decal is that the star separating the PT and 42 doubles as the star in the Arizona state flag, with tonal maroon rays rising from it in subtle detail.
The gold decals on the back of the helmet include the Pac 12 shield and the Warning label, which is in the shape of the state of Arizona with a maroon border, featuring gold text, and has a small, gold pitchfork with maroon trim over Tempe. The decals on the back of the helmet are rounded by the American flag and have a unique design on the rear bumper. The rear bumper decal is a maroon base that includes lighter maroon and Vegas gold buildings depicting the Las Vegas skyline.
For a more dynamic look at the maroon helmet, see the video below for an example of the color shift from maroon to gold in different angles of light.
Cleats and Socks
The Sun Devils will wear gold cleats for the bowl game. From left to right, there are three different cleats. The first pair is an AdiZero, the next is a Freak mid, and the last is a Nasty Fly. The AdiZero cleats are typically worn by speed position players (wide receivers and defensive backs), while the Freaks have a hybrid element and can be worn by mid-size players (fullbacks, linebackers, and tight ends), and the Nasty cleats worn by heavier players (linemen).
Beginning with the pair on the left, the AdiZero features a gold base and sole, a gold tongue, gold laces, three maroon adidas stripes near the toe on the outside of the shoe, and a prominent gold AdiZero logo with a digital ghost effect on the instep near the arch. It also has a repeating pattern of the Forks Up hand sign printed in gold throughout the shoe and a gold finger loop on the heel with the phrase “Forks Up” in maroon print.
The Freak Mid pair in the middle has a gold base and translucent gold sole, gold laces, a gold tongue with a maroon Freak logo on it, three reflective maroon adidas stripes on the outside of the cleat near the toe, and a prominent maroon adidas logo on the instep. Like the AdiZero, the Freak Mid has a repeating pattern of the Forks Up hand sign printed in gold throughout the shoe and a gold finger loop on the heel with the phrase “Forks Up” in maroon print.
The Nasty Fly is the final pair on the right. The second to last pair is the Nasty Torsion. It is a heavier duty cleat with a gold base and sole, gold laces, gold eyelets with darker gold accents, a gold tongue with a maroon Nasty logo on it, three maroon adidas stripes on the outside of the cleat, a maroon adidas logo on the inside of the cleat near the heel, a small plastic gold plate on the arch, and a finger loop that mimics the styling of the lace eyelets with “Forks Up” in maroon print. The repeating pattern of the gold printed Forks Up hand sign is featured prominently on the front half of the shoe.
In addition to the gold shoes, the Sun Devils will also be wearing gold socks to match the rest of the uniform.
Gloves
The Sun Devils will wear gold and white gloves, and as with the cleats, there are different gloves for different positions. The gloves on the top are AdiZeros which are typically worn by speed position players like wide receivers and defensive backs. The gold gloves feature a gold pitchfork with maroon trim on the palm of each glove. They also have a maroon adidas logo on the back of the hand, maroon striping and a small “Z” AdiZero letter mark on the wrist strap, and maroon stitching along the wrist strap. 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 the same gold pitchfork with maroon trim on the palm of each glove as the AdiZero gloves. On the back of the glove, the adidas Freaks also have some extra padding, a maroon adidas logo, and maroon striping, and the Freak logo on the wrist strap. Finally, for linemen, the gloves on the bottom are adidas Freak-Max, which boast 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 white and black two-tone on the palm, and along with a maroon adidas logo on the back of the hand, they also have gold accents on the knuckles and wrist-wrap.
Reaction
We entered the season with nothing but a distant and bad memory of the gold uniforms and stories from those that saw them live about just how bad they were and how bad the games in which they wore them were. The Sun Devils are now 2-0 this season while wearing the gold jersey with a chance to win a third in this upcoming bowl game. A third win would be great, but even a loss in a glorified exhibition game couldn’t tarnish how well the Devils played in gold jerseys this year.
I like this look a lot and don’t at all mind the Vegas gold trim on the maroon pitchfork decal. Given the recent holiday, I was reminded just how much this “true” metallic gold color is used in ASU decorations or more classy alumni memorabilia. Anyone that has shopped for ASU gifts or décor has seen metallic gold as an accent on pens, frames, paperweights, and more. There’s no reason it shouldn’t be on a helmet.
I do wish that the maroon helmet was matched with maroon pants, but this is still a sharp look. The maroon lid ties the whole look together, and I look forward to seeing how everything looks together as the Sun Devils take on Wisconsin.
What Color Traveling ASU Fans Should Wear: Gold
#Faniforms Presented by Cactus Sports
After a season-long contest, I’m so pleased to announce that we have a winner of the #Faniforms Presented by Cactus Sports contest. The winner of the $100 Cactus Sports gift card was @lilbobby28. Congratulations!
And a big thank you to everyone who submitted their #faniforms week in and week out! I can’t wait to see what you all bring to the table next year. Here’s the winning #faniform:
