A Week in Review
It has been a few weeks since the Sun Devils last took the field, and before we dive into the rankings of this past season’s uniforms, let’s talk about the last game, its uniform, and the season that was. The Devils took on Texas in their traditional gold Sparky helmet, maroon jersey, gold pant combination with one important, visible alteration: a Peach Bowl patch on the right shoulder. In making their way to the Peach Bowl for the first time since 1970, Arizona State played in its first ever College Football Playoff game as a 4 seed, receiving a bye as one of the top 4 ranked conference champions in the nation. Being three and a half weeks removed from their Big 12 Championship win showed as they came out with a bit of rust and found themselves down 14-3 in the first quarter. From there, for all intents and purposes, the Sun Devils dominated the flow of the game, as well as the stat sheet. A few drives deep into Texas territory failed to convert as a couple were turned over on downs, and one ended in a missed field goal. Even with all that missed opportunity, the Devils yielded only one more field goal to Texas, heading into halftime down 17-3.
The second half opened with ASU forcing a quick Texas punt, then driving down to the Longhorn two-yard line, only to turn the ball over on downs again. However, on the first Texas play following that turnover, Shamari Simmons forced a fumble and tackled Quinn Ewers for a safety after he recovered the ball in the end zone. The Devils were finally on the board for the first time since their first drive of the game. They followed up that safety with a field goal to narrow the game to a 17-8 score. Texas responded with a touchdown, stretching the score out to 24-8. The Sun Devils responded with a gritty drive, but found themselves in a 4th and 2 situation at the Texas 42. Knowing they had to go for it down 16 points, quarterback Sam Leavitt pitched the ball to running back Cam Skattebo who launched a pass down field that found wide receiver Malik McClain, who was able to make the catch and a short run to the end zone. After converting a two-point conversion, the Devils had cut the lead to a one-possession game with an eight-point deficit. Two plays later, Javan Robinson intercepted Quinn Ewers, and ASU was back in business. Leavitt found Skattebo deep down the field on the sideline for 62 yards, with a facemask penalty setting the Sun Devils up at the Texas 8-yard line. Texas committed pass interference on a pass intended for Kyson Brown in the end zone, so the ball was then placed at the 2-yard line. Skattebo ran the ball in on the next play and followed that up with a run into the end zone to convert a two-point conversion, tying the game up 24-24. Two missed Texas field goals and a missed targeting call later, the game went to overtime.
ASU started with the ball and began a gritty 25-yard drive that ended with a three-yard Skattebo touchdown run. On the ensuing Texas possession, the Devils had Texas on the ropes in a 4th and 13 from the 28-yard line that will live in infamy. Texas scored when Ewers threw over the top of an all-out blitz for a Texas touchdown to force a second overtime. Texas then scored on their first play of the second overtime and converted their two-point attempt. The Devils were working their way towards the end zone, but Sam Leavitt ended up throwing an interception, which ended the Sun Devils’ season.
What a season it was. The Sun Devils won eleven games for the first time since 1996 and saw incredible growth from their freshman quarterback, as well as the best season of any running back in ASU history. They won close games and got better each week. After a bunch of blowout playoff games, the Sun Devils proved that they belonged, and even have an argument that they were the better team in the Peach Bowl, despite the final score. The Valley is officially activated and excitement for next season is at an all-time high. The 2024-25 season was a beautiful experience, and speaking of beautiful, let’s talk about that uniform.
The Sparky helmet was worn for the fourth consecutive game in the Peach Bowl, and Sun Devil Nation could not have been happier. Their happiness is justified. Sparky helmets with a single maroon center stripe and maroon facemask atop a maroon jersey with gold numbers outlined in white trim and gold pants is the quintessential ASU look. Add to that a patch of a bowl game that is part of the College Football Playoff, and it sends the uniform to another level. While the outcome of the game was a tough loss, it was one of the best CFP games of all time, and the Sparky uniform is always one of the best uniforms of the year. You can never go wrong with Sparky and traditional ASU colors on a familiar uniform combination. To watch the Sun Devils put on an incredible show on the sport’s biggest stage in their most iconic uniform felt good for the soul. No notes, just gratitude.
Peach Bowl (Gold Sparky/Maroon/Gold): A+
Ranking the Uniforms
For the first time since 2002, the Sun Devils played fourteen games in a season, however the variety wasn’t quite the same as it has been in past years. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. There was still plenty of nuance and uniform combinations throughout the season, along with a choice to stick with a classic at the end of the season. In the end, it was still one of the best seasons of uniforms we’ve seen. We just discussed how great the final uniform was. It was truly a fitting exclamation point to the end of a season in which ASU Football gave folks so many reasons to fall in love with their team. Why not be the nation’s darling while wearing the school’s most iconic uniform? With that said, let’s get started with these rankings. This article will contain uniforms 8-14. Bear in mind that this is completely subjective based on a combination of my own opinion as well as the reactions I saw, week in and week out, to each uniform from both ASU fans and national commentary. You will almost certainly disagree with me many times. That’s actually a good thing. It opens up the opportunity for conversation as a chance to discuss something with your friends or with me, which we are passionate about.
Without any further ado, here is Part 1 of the 2024-25 Uniformity Rankings:
14. Week 4 at Texas Tech: Whiteout
Whiteout uniforms are an inevitability each year and I know that players tend to like the “clean” look, but it is devoid of personality as well as largely devoid of success. After wearing it in a loss to Texas Tech this past season, the Sun Devils are now 2-12 all time wearing the Stormtrooper look. Fan reaction is becoming increasingly louder as larger groups are voicing their dissenting opinions to this annual combo. For me, it’s the generic, out of the box, anyone could do it type of look that has always turned me off of it. The use of a filled in, maroon pitchfork with gold trim was the main redeeming quality of this uniform, but not enough to save it from the bottom spot on the list.
13. Week 6 vs Kansas: Maroon Monsoon
This is perhaps the most surprising ranking on the entire list to me as I am a major proponent and lover of the Maroon Monsoon. There are a few reasons why I think it ended up next to last which has more to do with the other uniforms than this being a particularly bad uniform. The away uniforms were largely solid and went with classic color combinations, or tied together maroon and white elements very well. Otherwise, the home and postseason uniforms had very strong alternate or iconic looks that made it hard to climb this list. As for this uniform’s shortcomings, it really comes down to the helmet decals. They aren’t bad. In fact, I appreciate the fact that the white pitchforks attempted to play off of the white number outlines on the jersey. However, it just didn’t quite stack up as an overall combination compared to the rest of this season’s uniforms.
12. Week 8 at Cincinnati: Maroon Helmet/White Jersey/White Pants
Sometimes, the outcome of a game contributes to the overall opinion of the uniform. Even though that shouldn’t be the case, it still happens, particularly in a season where there was far more good than bad. This uniform is a product of that. Along with author subjectivity, the voice of the fanbase really reached out to me to express their opinion on white pants, particularly in road games, and that opinion is not particularly positive. There is a correlation fans have seemingly drawn between white pants and lack of on-field success in away games. That held true this season as ASU’s only two regular season losses came in road games while wearing white pants. It also holds true historically as the Devils are 6-18 since 2011 when wearing white points on the road. Overall, this uniform is objectively nice looking, but it didn’t pack that wow factor.
11. Week 1 vs Wyoming: Gold Helmet/Maroon Jersey/Gold Pants
One can never go wrong with the classic home color combination, and the lower ranking is not reflective of the gold helmet/maroon jersey/gold pant combination, just its execution, particularly in a season where this exact color combination was used so perfectly, so often. The home opener has traditionally remained a classic color combo game with the maroon pitchfork decal, and it should continue to do so. The pitchfork decal has seen different iterations throughout the years from the original metal fleck that has been the most often used to a couple different versions of chrome maroon pitchforks. This season’s chrome maroon pitchfork decal is the Achilles heel of this uniform. The maroon and gold of the decal do not match the maroon or gold hue of the other elements of the uniform. My biggest critique of it, though, is that there is no thinner maroon border to the maroon pitchfork’s gold, spiked trim. That gold trim becomes undetectable on the gold helmet, even in close-up TV shots, which minimizes the overall appearance of the decal to the narrow, maroon pitchfork. I have an appreciation and respect for the pitchfork and its place in Sun Devil Athletics and as the primary helmet decal, but this particular version of the traditional maroon pitchfork was poorly executed.
10. Week 12 at Kansas State: White Helmet/White Jersey/Maroon Pants
The uniform worn at Kansas State was a great look. Though there is a heavy prominence of white elements, including a white pitchfork decal which is not a favorite of mine, this overall combination still really works. The maroon facemask combined with the maroon pants and jersey numbers all give this uniform a great dark color anchor that it desperately needs. This is the same uniform the Devils wore at Cal in 2023. It worked then, and it worked this past season, with even better final score results. I would love to see this with a maroon pitchfork, or even an oversized maroon pitchfork like ASU wore in their 2019 win over Cal. This was a really good look for a really good road win.
9. Week 3 at Texas State: Gold Helmet/White Jersey/Gold Pants
Classic colors worn for a road uniform is nothing to scoff at. This was a really good look that had the same issue holding it back as the Week 1 uniform: the diminished maroon pitchfork decal. This uniform somehow held up better than the home uniform did, though. Perhaps that was because the maroon pitchfork decal was easier for the eye to pick out against the white jersey. Other than that, the uniform itself has very little to complain about. That being said, it would be great to see this combination with maroon pants again in the near future.
8. Week 7 vs Utah: Maroon Eclipse (Blackout)
Ah yes, the infamous not-so-Blackout uniform that resulted from Arizona State not having any major black elements (helmet, jersey, or pants) to utilize for the annual Blackout theme game. As a result, the Sun Devils wore monochromatic maroon uniforms for the second consecutive week after having just worn their annual Maroon Monsoon uniform against Kansas the week prior. In order to tie in the Blackout theme, ASU wore black pitchfork decals with gold trim on the maroon helmet and black facemasks. Upon the first gaze, it looked like a rushed fix, but upon further review, it worked. I mean, it really worked. Add to that a win over then 16th ranked Utah, and this sharp looking uniform left an indelible mark and would become affectionately called the Maroon Eclipse uniform as named by friend of Uniformity, TL Tyrell and voted upon by all of Uniformity Nation.
That concludes the Part 1 of the Uniformity rankings for ASU Football’s 14 uniform combinations of 2024-25. Stay tuned as Part 2 of the rankings will be coming very soon!
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