Week in Review
Utter domination. From the opening kick, the Sun Devils were in complete control en route to reclaiming the Territorial Cup and bringing it back home to its one, true, rightful place in Tempe. The Sun Devil defense gave up only 210 total yards and one touchdown for the game. Cam Skattebo ran for over 100 yards and three touchdowns in the first half alone, finishing the game with 177 yards rushing. Skattebo wasn’t alone in rushing for the century mark. Kyson Brown joined him by rushing for exactly 100 yards on eight carries, showing a great deal of burst all game long. Sam Leavitt threw three touchdowns of his own while racking up 291 yards for the game.
The Sun Devils pulled their starters in the fourth quarter, creating a cool full-circle moment when senior quarterback Trenton Bourguet, a Marana native, came into the game. Another special moment took place when Trenton connected with his brother, wide receiver Coben Bourguet, for a seven-yard pass that led to a first down. Yet another cool moment took place immediately after that when walk-on freshman wide receiver Derek Eusebio motioned out of the backfield and caught a wide receiver screen from Bourguet behind the line of scrimmage and proceeded to evade tacklers on his way to a sixty-four-yard touchdown catch and run. After all the dust settled, the Sun Devils won 49-7, avenging their loss in the rivalry game last season. The win ultimately punched their ticket into the Big 12 Championship game. Sun Devil fans were treated to a great looking win, something that will not soon be forgotten. Speaking of great looking, let’s talk about those uniforms.
The classic gold Sparky helmet, white jersey, gold pants away uniform combination was on full display, and it was glorious. While the pitchfork is still the primary logo for Sun Devil Athletics, it was a welcome sight and feeling to see Sparky on the helmet in consecutive weeks. While I prefer and believe the superior away uniform combination includes maroon pants, the gold pants showed very well. In prior seasons, the gold helmets and pants have been far too light, showing closer to yellow, but for this year’s uniform, the gold helmets and pants have far more depth. All game long, no matter whether in broad daylight or in the shadows of the stadium as the sun went down, ASU’s color effortlessly outshone the others. The Sparky uniforms were not recognized by UNISWAG or UniAuthority in their woefully incorrect weekly uniform rankings. The Sun Devils looked incredible as they wore the best helmet in college football. Great game, great grade.
Sparky Helmet/White/Gold: A+
The Week to Come
Uniform
The Sun Devils finished the regular season on a five-game winning streak and still seem to be getting better with each game. They put forth their most dominant effort of the year on their way to reclaiming the Territorial Cup. After a couple of weeks of building up big first-half leads but closing out with tense second halves, last Saturday’s win was a nice reprieve. Most of ASU’s wins have been by one score this season, and the Territorial Cup game is typically a stressful affair, so to have the game well in hand from the jump made for a very enjoyable Saturday afternoon.
Now, the most important test yet awaits a trip to the Big 12 Championship game. The Devils will meet an Iowa State team that is also surpassing expectations, a theme for all of the top teams in the conference this year. The Cyclones boast a pair of 1,000-yard receivers in Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, as well as a 3,000-yard quarterback in Rocco Becht, who is sure to test the Sun Devil secondary. However, on the other side of the ball, Iowa State ranks 96th in the nation in rush defense, giving Arizona State an opportunity to leverage their strength. The rushing game is already an important part of ASU’s success, but may be even more so with leading wide receiver Jordyn Tyson out indefinitely with an injury. A promising trend that has taken place over the last few weeks, however, is that ASU quarterback Sam Leavitt has been spreading the ball around to more receivers who have been running crisper routes and making explosive plays. The matchups are set; all there is left to do is play the game. A trip to the playoffs is on the line, and this Sun Devil team has earned the right to play for such an opportunity, and as the top seed in the conference, they will be the designated home team. When the Devils take the field in Arlington for the Big 12 Championship game, they will be wearing a traditional gold Sparky helmet, maroon jersey, and gold pant uniform combination.
The maroon jersey features the Arizona state flag as a stripe feature on either side of the uniforms. 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 gold pants have a large gold pitchfork with maroon trim on the right thigh and a maroon adidas logo near the left hip.
Helmet
The gold helmet features standard-sized Sparky decals with a single maroon center stripe. The Sparky helmet features a maroon facemask, the one differing factor for this weekend’s uniform compared to the uniform worn two weeks ago against BYU. The front bumper has a white base and maroon “Sun Devils” text outlined with gold. 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 which is in the shape of the state of Arizona, features maroon text, and has 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 “Arizona State” text outlined in gold on a white base rear bumper.
Cleats and Socks
The Sun Devils will wear maroon cleats against Iowa State. 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 maroon and gold sole, with the maroon occupying the front half of the sole while the gold takes up the back half and reaches partway up the heel. They have a textured maroon base that has a bit of a sparkle element to it, with three gold stripes and an adizero wordmark on the outside of the shoe. The top portion of the cleat is a primeknit and has the 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 gold sole and a gold plastic band that reaches up towards the heel on either side of the shoe. The maroon base has three gold stripes on the outside of the shoe, while there is a gold adidas logo on the instep. The maroon laces lead up to the gold 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, made for more ankle support for heavier linemen. The second to last pair is the adizero Chaos. It features a shiny gold plastic sole and a two-tone maroon and gold colorway on the main body of the shoe. The front half towards the toe is gold 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 gold rubberized material designed for better grip on the grass and it also features a small plastic maroon plate on the instep of the sole.
Maroon 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
The dream season continues! Arizona State has reached the ten-win benchmark for the first time since 2014, a conference championship for the first time since 2013, and is wearing Sparky for the third consecutive game. It is important to note that the pitchfork is still the official logo of Sun Devil Athletics, but it feels great to see Sparky with such consistency. With the Devils on such a hot run, the continued usage of Sparky feels like it’s carrying the team’s momentum while also igniting an ASU fan base that is constantly yearning for the Sparky helmet to be used more often. Although this is the third time the classic Sparky decal has been used, it has still been a part of three different uniform combination varieties. The Sparky helmet against BYU featured a white facemask, something that had not been done since 1995; the helmet with a maroon facemask worn in the Territorial Cup win last week was the same helmet but was worn with a white jersey, and this week’s iteration with a maroon facemask is being worn with a maroon jersey.
This is the biggest stage that Arizona State has played on in over a decade, and as such, it is best to put your best foot forward. That rings true for the team’s preparation and how they come out to play against Iowa State, but it also rings true in putting the team’s visual identity on full display. The nation knows Sparky. The nation loves Sparky. Sun Devil Nation loves Sparky. Wearing the classic uniform color combination with the Sparky helmet accomplishes putting the team’s identity front and center. Any discussion about ASU’s uniform will center around how great it looks, and people will continue to express that it should be the permanent uniform. While it will not be taking over as the permanent uniform, the classic Sparky uniform is beloved far and wide, and why not? It is the best uniform in college football. It ought to be celebrated, and what better way to celebrate it than wearing it for what hopefully becomes a deep postseason run for Arizona State. The future of ASU’s 2024 season will be determined by the results of the Big 12 Championship game. Just as I closed this section the past two weeks, Saturday can’t come soon enough.
What Color #Faniform Traveling 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 still love to highlight his participation and just how well dressed he is. Last game, Rossini wore a maroon sweater that had gold and white stripes on the sleeves as well as gold stripes and a white block on the chest with a maroon Arizona State print within. He also wore a gold hoodie that had a gold pitchfork with maroon trim and a white adidas logo, a white and gray striped polo that had a maroon pitchfork with gold trim, maroon ASU letter mark logo,, and a gray ASU Volleyball Big 12 Champions shirt. His shoes are maroon and white adidas Top Ten RB shoes.
#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 @ASU_Madness on earning a finalist spot last week! And best of luck to @CraftyCreative, @Skyisthelimit22, and @FeedUrFrequency in this week’s Twitter and Instagram poll!
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