A Week in Review

Another sluggish start out of the gates in Corvallis ultimately led to another loss for the Sun Devils as they failed to end their losing streak. Oregon State put on an impressive offensive showing in the first half against an ASU defense that has made a habit of going from struggling to becoming stifling later in the game. Despite the loss, it was good to see Jayden Daniels come out and play well and turnover-free after sitting out the previous week due to injury. It was also good to see the classic away uniforms on the field.

The gold helmet/white jersey/maroon pant uniform combination is a staple for ASU Football away games. It’s a complete combination, satisfying the basic elements of including the primary school colors and having the darker maroon serve as an anchor for the uniform as a whole. It is undeniably ASU and, despite the game’s outcome, makes ASU fans feel good to see their team represented on the field in such a way. There’s not much more to say. This is a great uniform.

Traditional Gold/White/Maroon: A

The Week to Come

Uniform

Life doesn’t get any easier for the Devils as the come back to Sun Devil Stadium for Homecoming to take on that Pac 12 North-leading Oregon Ducks. There’s no reason why things couldn’t get weird in the wild, wacky, and poorly officiated Pac 12, but it will take a complete ballgame, which includes a fast start, to accomplish such a feat against the Ducks as they bring a wave of momentum into Tempe.

This weekend will be the second consecutive themed home game as the Sun Devils will wear their version of a Maroon Monsoon. This Maroon Monsoon, much like the Blackout, is not a pure Maroon Monsoon because of the absence of maroon helmets this season. Instead, the Devils will wear a gold helmet/maroon jersey/maroon pant uniform combination. The maroon 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 gold player numbers on the uniforms are outlined in black 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 black. On the front of the jersey, near the left shoulder, is a gold adidas logo. Near the right shoulder is a black 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 gold 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 gold helmet is very similar looking helmet we saw earlier in the season against Washington State but has one added feature to make it unique. The gold helmet features a gold facemask, maroon chinstrap, and standard-sized gold pitchfork decals with maroon trim and a thin maroon border. There is one more detail that makes this helmet much more recognizably ASU: The maroon center stripe.

The front bumpers on this week’s helmet are 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 gold socks.

Gloves

The Sun Devils will wear both gold and white gloves this week, and as with the cleats, there are different gloves for different positions. The gold 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 tonal state flag pattern on the palm of the glove. They also have a white adidas logo on the back of the hand and maroon accents on the knuckles and the wrist-wrap.

The white 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 white 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

The Maroon Monsoon is far and away one of the uniform games I look forward to every year, so the fact that it isn’t an “official” Maroon Monsoon carries a natural disappointment. However, one look at this week’s combination, and you can’t help but get pumped up.

This uniform combination and helmet have been teased in marketing materials since before the season began, so it’s exciting to be able to see it on the field. The kickoff is at 5:30 pm and it has been getting dark earlier and earlier which leads me to believe that the bright lights will be on by kickoff which is exactly the treatment that this uniform deserves. The gold facemasks will be balanced out well with the maroon center stripe. I’m very excited about this week’s helmet and think that it will make a strong case that a center stripe should be a mainstay on gold helmets with standard-sized pitchforks.

What Color ASU Fans Should Wear: Maroon

#Faniforms

Lately, 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 of last week’s #Faniforms: