A Week in Review
Slow starts have plagued the Sun Devils all season long, but in an unfortunate turn from the beginning of the season, overcoming those slow starts over the past few games has not translated into wins. Jayden Daniels was out nursing a nagging knee injury he suffered during the UCLA game, so Joey Yellen made the first start of his career. Despite taking on a team with a rich history in USC, he showed no fear from the early going and also showed off a great touch, arm strength, and ability to move about the pocket. He looked strong in leading the Devils in a comeback bid against the Trojans that came up just short. He truly looked good as a true freshman making his first-ever start deep within a conference season. Speaking of looking good, the Sun Devils’ Salute to Service Blackout uniforms were certainly eye-catching.
Certainly, this wasn’t a true Blackout, as there is not a black helmet option this season. As a reminder, ASU administration made an important and expensive decision to dedicate to helmets with the highest rated safety standards. Those top-rated helmets are incredibly expensive and as a result, even with a generous donation from a booster, the team was able to afford only two helmet colors: gold and white. White was the second color chosen because it can be manipulated with different decals to match a larger variety of uniform combinations.
Even so, the white helmets looked great with the black jerseys and pants. The black pitchforks with maroon and gold accents matched with an incredibly designed digital camouflage center stripe. Equipment manager Jerry Neilly had the great foresight to reach out to graphic designer and Sun Devil Dan Trujillo to work on the incredible homage to the military. It was striking and made an unmistakable statement. If ever a Blackout could not truly be Blackout, as was the case this season, there was no better way to have bridged the gap than what the Sun Devil Equipment Staff, along with Dan Trujillo, brought to Frank Kush Field last Saturday.
Salute to Service Blackout: A
The Week to Come
Uniform
Heading into their final road game of the season, the Sun Devils will look to break a 3-game skid against Oregon State as they travel up to Corvallis. The Sun Devils have dominated the Beavers in their last two meetings, including a 40-16 win in Reser Stadium on a foggy day in 2017, but OSU has been making steady progress all season long and has become a a formidable opponent in the Pac 12 North. As far as uniforms are concerned, the Sun Devils have seen quite a few innovative looks this season, despite the limited helmet color options, but this week they will go back to basics with one of the best road uniform combinations of all time.
When they take the field against the Beavers this Saturday, the Sun Devils will wear the classic gold helmet/white jersey/maroon pant uniform combination. The white jersey features a sublimated Arizona state flag in representing the sunset and the star across the chest in lieu of identifying text which is now on the back of the jersey. The maroon player numbers on the uniforms 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 the 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 a white and gray “150” patch signifying the 150th season of college football as well. 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 maroon pants have a small maroon pitchfork with black 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 visual dimension to the uniform as a whole, but also serving a purpose in providing a greater range of motion.
Helmet
This week’s classic gold helmet features the traditional pitchfork look that has become recognizable since the rebrand in 2011. The gold helmet features a maroon facemask, maroon chinstrap, and standard-sized gold pitchfork decals with gold trim and a thin maroon border.
The front bumpers on this week’s helmet will be both 2D and 3D with a gold base and maroon font that reads PT*42, also honoring the legendary Sun Devil, Pat Tillman. The maroon decals on the back of the helmet include the Pac 12 shield, the outline of the state of Arizona with a small pitchfork over Tempe, and even the text in the Warning label. The decals on the back of the helmet are completed by a white rear bumper decal with maroon text and two small Sparky decals on either side of the rear bumper itself.
Cleats & Socks
The Sun Devils will wear maroon cleats this weekend. The two sets of cleats pictured below feature the adidas Adi-Zero cleats on the top row and adidas Freaks on the bottom. The Adi-Zeroes are typically worn by speed position players (wide receivers and defensive backs), while the Freaks are typically worn by heavier players (linebackers and linemen).
Beginning with the top row, the Adi-Zero on the left features a maroon base and gold sole, a maroon and gold tongue, gold laces, three white adidas stripes near the toe on the outside of the shoe, and a prominent white adidas logo on the instep near the arch. The Adi-Zero in the middle is a Primeknit mid-top and has the same features as well, but the gold opening rises higher up on the ankle. The pair on the far right is a standard low-top Adi-Zero Primeknit with all the same features as the mid without going as high on the ankle.
The two pairs of adidas Freaks on the left also feature a maroon base and sole, with three white adidas stripes near the ankle on the outside of the shoes and three maroon adidas stripes on a reflective gold accent panel near the arch on the instep. They both also have a gold tongue and gold laces. The Freak low-top is on the far left and Freak mid-top is second to left, rising higher up the ankle. Second to the right, the Freak Primeknit mid-top has a maroon base and sole with three white adidas stripes near the ankle on the outside of the shoes and three maroon adidas stripes on a gold Primeknit fabric panel near the arch on the instep. The tongue and laces are gold as well. The Freak Torsion on the far right has a maroon base and sole. It also has three white adidas stripes on the outside of the shoe. There is a very large maroon adidas logo on a prominent reflective gold panel on the inside of the shoe. The tongue and large shoelaces are both gold, and a small, maroon adidas “Freak” logo can be found on the gold heel loop.
Along with the maroon cleats, the Sun Devils will also be wearing maroon socks.
Gloves
The Sun Devils will wear white gloves this week, and as with the cleats, there are different gloves for different positions. The gloves on the top are Adi-Zeros which are typically worn by speed position players like wide receivers and defensive backs. Each glove features a gold pitchfork with maroon trim overlaying a white and gray tonal state flag pattern on the palm of the glove. They also have a maroon adidas logo on the back of the hand and maroon accents on the knuckles and the wrist-wrap.
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 a pattern of small, repeating adidas logos that are gold in color on the white palm, along with a large maroon adidas logo that is completed when the palms are placed together. The adidas Freaks also have a maroon adidas logo on the back of the hand and a black wrist-wrap.
Finally, for linemen, the gloves on the bottom are white 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 a have gold accent on the wrist-wrap and knuckles.
Reaction
Jerry Neilly and his equipment staff have done an incredible job providing fresh away uniform combinations this season, but with this being the final away game of the season, it’s only right that a classic, traditional fan favorite is worn. As far as a road uniform is concerned, this brings the best of everything that ASU has to offer. Gold helmets sitting atop a white uniform with maroon numbers accented with gold and anchored by the maroon pants. Maroon, gold, and the obligatory white make this the quintessential ASU away combination.
This uniform combination is as much of a staple and necessity as opening the home season in the traditional colors. I’m a fan of the innovation and how the expansion of the ASU Football brand continues to flourish, but I’m also a sucker for the classics, and this combination is one of the best. I can’t wait to see it on the field this Saturday.
What Color Traveling ASU Fans Should Wear: Gold
#Faniforms
For the the past few weeks, I have been soliciting for Sun Devil Nation to post their gameday gear, or “Faniforms” on Twitter. I invite anyone else reading this to do the same. Use the hashtag #Faniforms and tag the Uniformity twitter account at @ASU_Uniformity. There has been an incredible response to it so far and it has been great to see what all the fans wear to support their Sun Devils on gameday. I am going to be posting a few here in the Uniformity article each week. They will be chosen at random, so keep on sending them in every week! Here are a few from the Blackout #Faniforms:
