A Week in Review
When I think of the Sun Devils’ game against Utah, I’m reminded of the classic lyrics from The Foundations that go, “Why do you build me up, Buttercup baby, just to let me down?” A strong 21-7 first half in which Jayden looked as accurate and comfortable as he ever has in the pocket with the defense finding times to make stops and force turnovers gave great promise for the rest of the game. It was not to be. Before the opening kick of the 2nd half, there was already a completely different feeling about the game, which materialized in Utah systematically dismantling Arizona State in every phase of the game. It was a rough outcome after being built up into thinking the Devils had control of the game that would ultimately lead to control of the Pac 12 South. That was not to be. Luckily, in the week since, Oregon State has handed Utah its first conference loss, which makes the outlook for the Sun Devils a little better. As for the uniforms, the Devils wore that fateful night, let’s dig in.
Arizona State wore a maroon helmet/white jersey/maroon pant uniform combination, and they looked excellent. While the base combination itself packs a visual punch, it was the helmet that truly stole the show. The large gold pitchfork decals with white trim matched with player number decals of the same style were complemented by a white facemask. This lent to a completely cohesive look from top to bottom. Jerry Neely and his crew were able to match the helmet with the maroon pants and white jersey by emphasizing the gold accents on those elements.
For some reason, this uniform did not make the cut for UNISWAG’s top 10 uniforms that week, which ended the consecutive streak on that list at 3. The snub was a gross miscalculation because, despite the game not turning out the way we had hoped, the uniforms looked incredible. This equipment crew continues to churn out amazing looks week in and week out.
Maroon Helmet/White Jersey/Maroon Pants: A-
The Week to Come
Uniform
The Sun Devils are no longer undefeated in conference play, but they are still very much alive in the hunt for the Pac 12 South. After a bye week that allowed the team to rest up and get healthy, the Devils look to come back refreshed as they return to Sun Devil Stadium for Homecoming weekend. They will take on Washington State fresh off of a tough loss after the firing of their head coach. The second color theme game of the season comes against the Cougs as ASU will be wearing their 2021 edition of the Blackout. Because there are still two helmets, gold, and maroon, the Blackout will not be monochromatic. However, it is going to look great when the maroon helmet/black jersey/black pant uniform combination takes the field. This is the first time the Sun Devils will have ever worn this particular uniform combo.
The heather black jersey features a sublimated Arizona state flag in representing the sunset and the star across the chest. 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. Near the right shoulder is a maroon and gold Pac 12 shield. 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 miniature 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 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 black standard-sized pitchforks decals that are stylized to appear as if they have the same texture and color as the heather black jerseys with light shades of black and white flecks throughout the decal. That heather black portion of the pitchfork has a thin gold border, and the pitchforks are finished off with a solid black trim. The center stripe features the same heather black stylization in the middle of the stripe bordered by thinner gold stripes, which are then outlined by thin, solid black stripes. The facemask is black, 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 a 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 gold “Sun Devils” text on a maroon base on the helmet’s rear bumper.
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
Maroon cleats will be worn with the Blackout uniform. From left to right, there are three different sets of cleats. The first three pairs are AdiZero, the next two are Freaks, and the last two are Nastys. The AdiZeros 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 left three, the AdiZero furthest on the left features a maroon base and sole, a gold tongue, gold laces, three white adidas stripes near the toe on the outside of the shoe, and a prominent white AdiZero logo with a digital ghost effect on the instep near the arch. It also has a gold finger loop on the heel. The next AdiZero is maroon on the outside of the shoe and on the sole, but more prominently gold on the instep and throughout the rest of the top of the shoe. The gold instep features a maroon AdiZero logo with a digital ghost effect and a gold finger loop on the heel. The third is the AdiZero Scorch which is a Primeknit mid-top. It has the same base color features as the previous pair, except the AdiZero logo with the digital ghost effect is silver rather than maroon.
The two pairs of adidas Freaks are in the middle of the group of cleats. The Freak pair on the left is the Freak mid. It has a maroon base and translucent gold sole, maroon laces, a maroon tongue with a white Freak logo on it, three white adidas stripes on the outside of the cleat near the toe, and a prominent white adidas logo on the instep. The Freak pair on the right is the Freak Ultra. It features all of the significant base aesthetics as the Freak Mid but also features primeknit material, darker maroon accents, gold stitch detailing around the lace eyelets, and a gold finger loop on the heel.
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 maroon base and sole, maroon laces, maroon eyelets with gold accents, a maroon tongue with a white Nasty logo on it, three white adidas stripes on the outside of the cleat, a white adidas logo on the inside of the cleat near the heel, a small plastic gold 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 exact major details as the Nasty Torsion; however, it is not as heavy duty, and instead of a maroon sole, it features a metallic gold sole.
Many players will be wearing these special edition maroon UltraBoost cleats as well. This pair of cleats is designed exclusively for ASU, celebrating the 5th anniversary of the UltraBoost 1.0 cleats that were originally designed for Arizona State 5 years ago. This cleat has a maroon and gold weave of primeknit material that makes up the majority of the top of the shoe. The top of the tongue is gold, and it has maroon laces. Maroon leather begins at the toe and wraps around the base of the shoe until it reaches the base of the heel. The base of the heel features a two-tone gold accent with an UltraBoost logo, while the top of the heel is a maroon mesh material. The top of the tongue has a black adidas logo, and there are three black adidas stripes on either side of the shoe, matched by black shoelace eyelets. The sole of the cleat is white with black-tipped spikes.
Maroon socks will be worn to complete the look.
Gloves
The Sun Devils will wear maroon and black 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 maroon gloves feature a palm design so that when the palms are placed together, it completes the image of the gold ASU Sunburst made famous by the 1975 undefeated Sun Devil team. They also have a white adidas logo on the back of the hand, maroon and gold detailing and a small “Z” AdiZero letter mark on the wrist strap, and gold 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. Like the AdiZero, the adidas Freak gloves feature a palm design so that when the palms are placed together, there is the image of the 1975 gold ASU Sunburst. On the back of the glove, the adidas Freaks also have some extra padding, a white adidas logo, and maroon and white 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 black and black two-tone on the palm, and along with a gold adidas logo on the back of the hand, they also have maroon accents on the knuckles and a gold accent on the wrist-wrap.
Reaction
I have always kind of wondered how a maroon on black or black on maroon combination would look. I have also always been told that the dark-on-dark combination of the maroon and black was always going to be very unlikely to happen. Enter the maroon to gold color shift helmet, and we finally have a maroon on black uniform to quench my curiosity.
There has always been a part of me that has been a proponent of something like this week’s uniform, but I teetered as to whether or not it would actually look good. With this maroon color shift helmet, enough color contrast is provided to make this work. The decals are genius. Mimicking the thread pattern of the actual jersey and pants is creativity on another level, but it also provides enough texture that the black decals don’t get lost on the darker helmet. While most Blackout games have taken place at night, this game kicks off at 12 noon making this the second consecutive Blackout day game. The most recent came against USC in 2019. I would prefer to see this game take place at night, but maybe the sunshine will provide a different dynamic that helps with the distinction between the two dark colors on display. Overall, I’m very much a proponent of this look and have high hopes for it on game day.
What Color Traveling ASU Fans Should Wear: Black
#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 @asunutgirl on earning a finalist spot last week! And best of luck to @kyledreadful, @CougDevil, and @JeffPreston42 in this week’s Twitter poll!
