Week in Review
A lot of good took place last week. There are still some things that need to be sorted out, starting slow and penalties being the most glaring of those things. That being said, despite the Sun Devils not necessarily putting Colorado away in the first quarter, this game was never in question. Jayden Daniels looked more comfortable in the pocket and making his reads. He hooked up with a wide array of receivers, including a completed pass to the big man, fullback Case Hatch, which all of Sun Devil Nation loved to see. There’s something about #44 with the ball in his hands that just feels right as an ASU fan. That being said, the Devils could only muster 14 first-half points and allowed Colorado to pull within four early in the second half. The defense put the clamps down, and the offense found its groove to sail to a nice 35-13 win over the Buffaloes. However, the final score wasn’t the only thing that looked good.
Those gold jerseys. I’ll say it again. Those gold jerseys. It has been 31 years since the Sun Devils wore gold jerseys, and it has been long overdue. The Sun Devils looked amazing this last Saturday, and it gave us a glimpse as to not only what we had missed out on over the years but also what we have to hopefully continue to look forward to from here. Seeing them in person, from afar, there are zero complaints. They looked perfect. The metallic gold outline of the player numbers was more subtle and less loud than a white outline would’ve been but still noticeable and complementary to the rest of the uniform, even from the furthest seats in the house. It looked terrific on television as well. I was consistently getting texts and messages on social media from people telling me how much they loved the uniforms.
Gold base with maroon sleeves and numbers. Those are the essential elements that the eye immediately picks up on, and they mesh so well. The metallic gold sunrays in the state flag on the sleeves are still the weakest part of the uniform as a whole, but I continue to dislike them less and less the more I see them. I’m a complete proponent of that off-gold around the numbers. Sparky came through huge, and it was amazing to see. That large Sparky on the classic gold helmet made a statement. It was modern while remaining classic and gave the entire uniform that finishing touch.
Sun Devil fans weren’t the only ones who noticed how great this uniform was. The weekly UNISWAG Uniforms of the Week top 10 rankings saw fit to place the Valley Heat uniform in the top spot, which was the correct call to make. We all know how great of a job that Jerry Neilly and his equipment staff do on a week-to-week basis, but it’s great to know that they’re getting nationally recognized as well.
Not only did the Sun Devils look great, but with their win, they secured the program’s first-ever win while wearing gold jerseys after losing the two previous attempts in 1989 and 1990. No longer can that winless record in gold be brought up as a reason not to wear them. Instead, we should be searching for reasons to wear them more!
Valley Heat Reverse Retro: A+
The Week to Come
Uniform
The Devils have a huge test ahead of them when they travel to Pasadena this Saturday to take on UCLA in a contest for the driver’s seat in the Pac 12 South. When they go to the Rose Bowl, the Sun Devils will wear a true road uniform for the first time in the 2021 season. When taking on the Bruins, Arizona State will be wearing a maroon helmet/white jersey/white pant uniform combination.
The white jersey features a sublimated Arizona state flag in representing the sunset and the star across the chest. The star and stripes of the flag are a tonal gray. The maroon player numbers are outlined in gold 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 black Sun Devil Bold font, and above the nameplate is a small, maroon “ASU” outlined in gold. On the front of the jersey near the left shoulder is a black adidas logo, near the right shoulder, is a maroon and gold Pac 12 shield, and at the base of the collar is the black PT*42 shield in honor of ASU Football legend, Pat Tillman.
The white pants have a small gold pitchfork with black trim near the right hip and a black adidas logo near the left hip. “Sun Devils” is in maroon Sun Devil Bold running vertically along the side of the left thigh. There is paneling on the pants that features the darker tonal white, 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. For the fifth consecutive week, the decals on the helmets are never-before-seen. The maroon color shift helmets have standard-sized pitchfork decals that have a gradient feature in which the pitchfork itself is gold at its bottom, fades to maroon in the middle, and back to gold at the top. The maroon and gold gradient pitchfork has white trim, which makes it jump off the helmet and match the jersey and pants. This is the first helmet of the season that does not feature a center strip of any kind. 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 white 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 white border, featuring white 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 the helmet’s rear bumper.
Cleats and Socks
White cleats will be worn for this week's matchup. From left to right, there are three different types of cleats. The first six pairs are a mix of AdiZero and Freaks, and the last two are Nastys. 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).
From left to right, the pair furthest to the left is the Freak Ultra Laceless. It features a white sole and white base with a maroon pixel gradient pattern around the bottom of the shoe and a primeknit center outlined by a maroon-lined starburst pattern. As the name suggests, this cleat does not have any laces but instead has three maroon adidas stripes where the laces would usually be. It is rounded out with a maroon Freak logo on the heel of the cleat. The next pair is an AdiZero which features a white base and sole, a maroon tongue, maroon laces, three maroon adidas stripes near the toe on the outside of the shoe, and a prominent maroon AdiZero logo with a digital ghost effect on the instep near the arch. It also has a maroon finger loop on the heel. The third is the AdiZero Scorch which is a Primeknit mid-top. It is white on the outside of the shoe and on the sole, but more prominently maroon on the instep and throughout the rest of the top of the shoe. The maroon instep features a maroon tonal AdiZero logo with a digital ghost effect and a maroon finger loop on the heel.
There are two more pairs of adidas Freaks in the middle of the group of cleats. The Freak pair on the left is the Freak mid. It has a white base and maroon sole, white laces, a white tongue with a maroon Freak logo on it, three maroon adidas stripes on the outside of the cleat near the toe, and a prominent maroon adidas logo on the instep. The Freak pair on the right is the Freak Ultra. It features all of the major base aesthetics as the Freak Mid but also features some gray primeknit material, maroon stitch detailing around the lace eyelets, and a maroon finger loop on the heel. The next pair is the third AdiZero pair. All of the major elements of this pair of cleats are white except for the three maroon adidas stripes on the outside of the shoe near the toe and the maroon adidas log on the instep.
The final two pairs on the right are Nasty cleats. The second to last pair is the Nasty Torsion. It is a heavier duty cleat with a white base and sole, white laces, white eyelets with maroon accents, a white 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 maroon plate on the arch, and a maroon and gold finger loop that mimics the styling of the lace eyelets. The far right pair is the Nasty Fly. It essentially shares all the same major details as the Nasty Torsion; however, it is not as heavy duty, and instead of a white sole, it features a metallic maroon sole.
The Sun Devils will wear white socks to match the rest of the uniform.
Gloves
The Sun Devils will wear 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 white gloves have a maroon palm that feature a maroon pitchfork with gold trim on 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 maroon base and maroon pitchfork with gold 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
Heading into this week five game, we are coming off of four straight fantastic uniform combinations. I don’t know if it’s because the bar has been set so high over the first third of the season, but I’m relatively lukewarm on this one. I like it, but it doesn’t have the wow factor that the previous four uniforms have had so far this season.
That being said, I’m still completely enamored with this maroon color shift helmet shell, and I’m excited to see it with a maroon facemask. The decals are also spectacular. Upon learning about the color shift helmets, I wondered what the equipment team would do as far as decals are concerned, and these gradient style, multi-colored decals are very impressive.
If you’ve followed Uniformity at all over the years, you know that I’m not crazy about white-dominated uniform combinations. Perhaps that is why my initial thoughts are lukewarm as well. It feels a little empty from the neck down with a big statement piece up top. Maybe a little pop of maroon in the socks or the cleats would’ve brought around my initial reaction a little bit more. Don’t get me wrong, I still like what I see overall, and having a maroon helmet to anchor the predominantly white uniform is an excellent thing. We shall see how it looks on the field at the Rose Bowl and make a final judgment then. My gut reaction is that it will look much better on game day. Let’s hope the results of the uniform look and the final outcome of the game are both outstanding this Saturday!
What Color Traveling ASU Fans Should Wear: Maroon or 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 @JpopASU on earning a finalist spot last week! And best of luck to @Ch3wy0220, @crafty_devils, and @bold_saguaro in this week’s Twitter poll!
