A Week in Review
I don’t think that I need to spend much time recapping the terrible performance against Washington State. Basically, two lost fumbles on the Sun Devils’ first three offensive plays, all of which were positive yard gains, derailed the tone of the game, and the team never recovered. The ASU offense outgained the opposing Cougars in the first half, yet the Devils trailed by three touchdowns at the break. There wasn’t much more to write home about in the second half. A couple of late, meaningless touchdowns made the final score more palatable, but this was a blowout from start to finish. It was ugly. One thing that was not ugly, however, was the blackout uniform combination.
I know, I know. After a game like that, why does the uniform even really matter? This is the 7th season of Uniformity. Throughout my time of writing this column, we as a Sun Devil community have seen some ups but have trudged through many downs, and I like to believe that a fun topic such as how good the uniforms look, and they did look really good, can be there to provide some levity. There’s positive fodder to focus on even when the team isn’t performing to its potential, which is why I continue to do my best to bring you excellent content week in and week out. All that said, last weekend’s uniform really was a great look.
Arizona State wore a maroon helmet/black jersey/black pant uniform combination for the blackout, which is something entirely new for this team and equipment staff. The color shift on the maroon helmet was not quite as prominent during the day game, and I assume that is because there is only one primary direct source of light, that source, of course, being the sun. Unlike night games, where there are stadium lights from every angle that provide ample opportunity for color shift, the sun is the one source; therefore, the shifting was limited. That, I believe, worked in this uniform’s favor.
As much as I love the maroon to gold color shift, I was curious if that would make the helmet look too busy atop a very steady, consistent all-black look from the neck down. With that not being the case, the maroon lid appeared to have a little less variation, which actually made the black textured decals easier to see and solidified the overall look. It didn’t make last week’s UNISWAG top 10; however, it did come in at #9 on the UniAuthority top ten list. It’s hard to look past the game that was to appreciate the uniform details, but on its own, this uniform, especially the helmet, was very well crafted. This is about as good of a Blackout uniform that there can be without having an actual black helmet.
Maroon Helmet Blackout: A-
The Week to Come
Uniform
Coming into last week’s game, there was much hope for the season to still end up in a Pac 12 South division title. After last week’s performance, it feels as if this team that was rolling seemed to have lost itself during halftime of the Utah game and is struggling to regain its footing. Not to play the “what if” game, but I do believe the game against Washington State has a much different complexion if two otherwise reliable players don’t fumble away the ball to start the game. Unfortunately, that’s not reality, and here we sit with the Devils at 3-2 in the Pac 12 with a confusing USC team coming to town that sadly lost its best player last week. The Sun Devils will have to dig deep in order to get this train back on track for the rest of the season. When USC visits this Saturday, the Devils will be wearing a Gold Rush uniform. That’s right, all gold, everything from head to toe. ASU is wearing a gold helmet for the first time since their Week 4 win over Colorado, which ironically was also the last time they wore the gold Valley Heat jerseys
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 major template that is being 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 plain maroon 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 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 PT*42 shield with a thin maroon border to shape it, a gold background, and a maroon PT*42 stitch within the shield. There is also a maroon adidas logo near the left hip. Outside of those elements, there are really no further details on the solid gold pants.
Helmet
The last time the gold helmet was worn, a special decal was worn in the form of a large Sparky. This week, the gold helmet will once again have a special decal. In honor of Military Appreciation Week, the Sun Devils will wear Pat Tillman decals on either side of the helmet. The PT*42 shield decal has a white border as well as white PT*42 font within the shield. The background of the shield decal is a digital maroon and gold camouflage pattern. The center stripe boasts the same maroon and gold camo pattern and is bookended by two thinner white stripes. The facemask is also gold, and the front bumper has a gold base and maroon font that reads PT*42. 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 maroon 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 gold border, featuring maroon text, and has a small maroon pitchfork with gold trim over Tempe. The decals on the back of the helmet are rounded by the American flag and maroon “Sun Devils” text on a white base on the helmet’s rear bumper.
Cleats and Socks
As part of the Gold Rush uniform, the Sun Devils will wear gold cleats. 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.
To match the all-gold uniform, the Sun Devils will wear gold socks.
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.
Salute to Service Off-Field Gear
With this game taking place during Military Appreciation Week, the team has also been issued some off-field clothing to wear in preparation for the game. The first is a simple black beanie that has a slight green tone camouflage patch at the brim. Within that patch is a white pitchfork with black trim.
The next is a military, canvas green hoodie. The hoodie has black stripes on the shoulders and a beige adidas logo beneath the collar. At the center of the chest is a black pitchfork with beige trim. Below the pitchfork is a beige “Sun Devils” print outlined in black. The team name is written in a military stylized font that is bookended by two small beige stars.
Reaction
When the gold jersey was announced, a flood of thoughts rushed through. First, how will it actually look? Second, how will fans receive it? Third, now that they have it, will they go with an all-gold uniform, and if so, how will that look? We all know how much of an abomination the 1989 all-gold jerseys were. Would we dare try again?
I was hesitant at the idea of all gold. I thought it could work, but that there would have to be enough maroon accents to bring it back down to earth. Now, here we are entering the 9th game of the 2021 season, and we have that all gold look, and I mean ALL gold. The thing that stands out about these is that the color match of all the major elements are about as close as one could ask for. That’s the first key in this, to make sure that three shades of gold mismatch did not come back and rear its ugly head again. No need to repeat that kind of history.
Of course, there’s maroon intertwined in all of the elements of the uniform, but the base color for every major element is gold. Lo and behold, I don’t hate it. I thought I would wince as I took my photos, but really I just felt like I was looking at something that I’ve looked at my whole life: ASU colors.
There is a lot of maroon on the jersey, and that really saves this whole thing. The gold facemask is a lot. I really wish it were maroon because I think that would be the finishing touch that could tie this whole thing together, but if you’re going to commit, then by golly, commit. And that’s exactly what the equipment staff did. Again, I write to you all to say that I don’t dislike it. In fact, I think I genuinely like it. Will it look like way too much once there are 11 guys on the field? That’s entirely possible. Despite my more positive than expected reaction to this, and the fact that I think it will look good, I still very much believe in the possibility of it not looking great on the field, but we shall see it come Saturday. Either way, let’s hope that it’s worn during a big Sun Devil victory over USC. That is something that we would all enjoy.
What Color Traveling ASU Fans Should Wear: Gold
#Faniforms Presented by Cactus Sports
Welcome back to #Faniforms Presented by Cactus Sports! Uniformity loves to highlight your best gameday #faniforms that you wear to support the Sun Devils each week. As a reminder, with Uniformity’s new partnership with Cactus Sports, three #faniforms will be chosen at random each week, just like in the past, but this season, there will be a weekly Twitter poll to vote for which of those three #faniforms will become a contest finalist. At the end of the regular season, all of the finalists will be entered into a final vote, with the grand prize being a $100 gift card to Cactus Sports! Reminder, when posting to Twitter, remember to use the hashtag #faniform and tag the Uniformity Twitter account @ASU_Uniformity. Here are this week’s selections! Keep an eye out on Twitter for the fan vote! Cast your vote for the best #faniform each week!
Congratulations to @kydreadful on earning a finalist spot last week! And best of luck to @MrGabeRamos, @keithsaurin, and @JediASU in this week’s Twitter poll!
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