Week in Review
There never seems to be a shortage of storylines when it comes to ASU Football. This past week, the Sun Devils’ path to bowl eligibility included overcoming a two-and-a-half-hour weather delay. The first half saw the Devils strike first, then answer back to both of Oklahoma State’s touchdowns to go into that long halftime with a 21-14 lead. Once the delay ended, it took a few drives for the game to regain its flow, and the Sun Devils dominated as they scored three more unanswered touchdowns before the Cowboys finally punched in a late touchdown to complete the game’s scoring at 42-21. Sam Leavitt threw for over 300 yards, the first 300+ passing game of his career, and Cam Skattebo tallied over 250 all-purpose yards en route to claiming his fourth Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week award. It is also worth noting that for the second time this season, Kenny Dillingham and his staff prepared the team to get better coming out of a bye week, resulting in a win. It was a fun game, and it was well worth waiting out for the weather delay. Seeing the Devils double their win total from each of the prior two seasons and earning bowl eligibility with four games remaining is a beautiful thing. Another thing of beauty was the uniform they wore in Stillwater. Let’s discuss it.
The maroon helmet/white jersey/maroon pant away combination is consistently one of the best road uniforms ASU has had to offer since the branding change in 2011. The only drawback in the context of last week’s game is that it marked the fourth consecutive game that the team wore a maroon helmet and the third instance in those games that the helmet was outfitted with the white pitchfork with gold trim. No matter, though, winning cures all, and in evaluating this as a standalone uniform, it passed with flying colors. Plenty of maroon and gold graced the eye despite the team wearing the required white road jersey. Whenever the team’s primary colors are well displayed, it makes for a good uniform combination. The final detail of the center stripe on the helmet center truly brings everything together. ASU helmets, outside of a few exceptions, should always have a center stripe. This was a great look worn for a great game!
Maroon/White/Maroon: A-
The Week to Come
Uniform
After a dominating performance on the road in Stillwater against Oklahoma State, Arizona State comes home to Tempe to take on a UCF team fresh off a dominating performance of their own. The Sun Devils have already secured bowl eligibility and are looking to build upon that in their remaining four games. Star running back Cam Skattebo’s status for the upcoming game is in question, which leaves Sun Devil fans uneasy about what many felt is a winnable game with him in the lineup.
All that being said, Sam Leavitt had a coming-of-age game against the Cowboys last week, and Kyson Brown showed the ability to move the ball and finish strong runs as well. No matter who takes the field, the Sun Devils will have to put their best foot forward against a revamped Golden Knights team riding high on confidence after a big win. When the Devils take the field against UCF, they will do so in a Salute to Service theme white helmet/maroon jersey/white pant uniform combination.
The maroon jersey features the Arizona state flag as a stripe feature on either side of the uniform. It is a darker tonal maroon with the rays leading up and fading into the armpit, the star around the base of the rib cage, and the river block running downward and eventually fading towards the waist. In a move towards an even more simplified design, adidas has opted not to include any identifying letter or wordmark on the jersey.
The maroon jerseys feature gold player numbers outlined in white on both the front and back of the jersey, as well as the TV numbers on the sleeves. Though it may be hard to see, the numbers on the front and back of the jerseys have a subtle, tonal flame pattern within the gold.
The nameplate on the back of the jersey utilizes the gold Sun Devil Bold font. On the front of the jersey, near the left shoulder, is a gold adidas logo. Near the right shoulder is a gold and maroon Big 12 logo. 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 white pants have a large maroon pitchfork with gold trim on the right thigh and a maroon adidas logo near the left hip.
Helmet
The white helmet features Pat Tillman honor shield decals for the Salute to Service game. The shield has a chrome maroon digicam base with a gold PT*42 print and a gold border. There is also a two-tone center stripe, which boasts a chrome maroon digicam center outlined by thin strips of gold. The facemask is maroon, and the front bumper has a white base and maroon “Arizona State” text.
The decals on the back of the helmet include a white Big 12 logo with a maroon border, a maroon PT*42 shield honoring the legendary Sun Devil, Pat Tillman, a maroon Warning label in the shape of the state of Arizona, featuring maroon text, a small, gold pitchfork with maroon trim over Tempe, and an American flag. The decals on the back of the helmet are rounded by the maroon “Sun Devils” text with a white base rear bumper.
Cleats and Socks
The Sun Devils will wear white cleats against Cincinnati. From left to right, there are four different types of cleats. The first two pairs are lighter cleats and are typically worn by speed position players (wide receivers and defensive backs), while the last two pairs are worn by heavier players (linemen).
From left to right, the pair furthest to the left is the adizero Electric. It features a white sole that reaches part way up the heel. They have a textured maroon base that has a bit of a sparkle element to it with three white stripes and an adizero wordmark on the outside of the shoe. The top portion of the cleat is a maroon primeknit and has the white adidas logo near the instep. It has maroon laces and a maroon finger loop on the heel. The next pair is the adizero Impact. It features a white sole and a white plastic band that reaches up towards the heel on either side of the shoe. The white base has three maroon stripes on the outside of the shoe, while there is a maroon adidas logo on the instep. The maroon laces lead up to the white adizero wordmark on the tongue, and the cleat also has a maroon finger loop on the heel.
The final two pairs are adizero Chaos models, which are made for more ankle support for heavier linemen. The second to last pair is the adizero Chaos. It features a shiny white plastic sole and a two-tone white and gold colorway on the main body of the shoe. The front half towards the toe is white and features three maroon stripes on the outside of the foot, while the back half towards the heel is maroon. The cleat also features maroon laces with a maroon finger loop on the heel. The fourth and final pair is the adizero Chaos Torsion. It shares almost all of the major color characteristics as the Chaos. The main difference is that the sole is a white rubberized material designed for better grip on the grass and it also features a small plastic maroon plate on the instep of the sole.
Another white cleat option is being made available to players as well. It is another pair of adizero Electric but with a different colorway. The mostly white shoe features metallic gold adidas stripes and accents, including an adizero word mark on the tongue.
White socks will be worn to match the cleats as well.
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 adizeros feature a maroon pitchfork with gold trim on the palm of each glove. They also have a maroon adidas logo on the back of the hand, maroon seams around the wrist, and a maroon adizero word mark on the pointer finger.
The gloves in the middle are adidas Freaks, worn by larger skill position players such as linebackers and tight ends. The white adidas Freak gloves feature the same maroon pitchfork palm design as the adizero, maroon seams around the wrist, and a maroon adidas logo on the back of the hand. 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 with black padding 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 the black wrist-wrap with a gold strap.
Reaction
For the first time since September 21, Arizona State will be wearing a helmet color other than maroon, and it couldn’t come at a better time than the Salute to Service game. If this helmet looks familiar, there is a reason for that. The 2024 Salute to Service helmet is very similar to the 2023 version of the helmet. The only differences are in the bumper decals and the switch from a white facemask in 2023 to a maroon facemask this season. The 2023 iteration of the uniform featured maroon pants, while the 2024 version featured white, making the seemingly subtle change to the maroon facemask a very impactful choice. The maroon facemask brings more of a color anchor to the uniform as a whole.
Overall, this is really a sharp look, and it is made more impactful by the PT*42 shield decal on the helmet being worn just three days after Pat Tillman’s birthday. Historically, the Devils are 1-3 wearing a white helmet, maroon jersey, and white pant combination, with the only win coming against Oregon State in the first year of the rebrand, 2011. If Skattebo takes the field this weekend, one has to feel a lot better about ASU’s chances at improving this uniform’s record, but with that in doubt, so too is the uncertainty about a uniform combination that hasn’t seen a win in thirteen years. All that said, this is a visually striking uniform combination that features a helmet decal honoring Pat Tillman, and I am looking forward to seeing how that looks on the field this Saturday.
What Color #Faniform ASU Fans Should Wear: Gold
Honorary #Faniform
Arizona State Athletic Director Graham Rossini continues to join in the fun of submitting a #faniform each week. While it is still a #faniform, anything submitted from Rossini will never be eligible for the #faniforms presented by Cactus Sports contest. However, we would still love to highlight his participation and how well-dressed he is. Last game, Rossini wore a black camo trucker-style cap that featured a white pitchfork silhouette, white football silhouette, and white O2V (Onward to Victory) ASU stitch. The hat was part of a gift incentive provided by the Sun Devil Club in March of 2024 for those who donated a gift of $100 or more. He also wore a white polo that had a gold pitchfork with gold trim on the left chest and an adidas logo on the right chest underneath a maroon quarter zip that had a maroon pitchfork with gold trim on the left chest and a white adidas logo on the right. He finished off the look with maroon, gold, and white Alphaboost V2 shoes and carried a desert camo adidas tote bag.
#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 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 $125 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 @ProducerWes on earning a finalist spot last week! And best of luck to @sethjones17, @Skyisthelimit22, and @RkyMtnSunDevil in this week’s Twitter and Instagram poll!
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