2025 Uniformity – Sun Bowl: Sun Devils Bring Back Sparky Against Duke
Week in Review
Turning the ball over is not ideal in the game of football. Doing it multiple times in a rivalry game is even less so. The defense held up about as long as they could after withstanding five turnovers and poor punting from the offense and special teams. The opponent was gifted good field position all game long, yet they only yielded 23 points. Unfortunately, between giving the ball away and the inability to finish drives, the Sun Devil offense was only able to muster 7 points of their own. It was not the final result to the regular season that ASU wanted to see, but that doesn’t take away the fact that Jeff Sims served his time well, going 3-2 in games he started, including a three-game winning streak that kept a return trip to the Big 12 Championship game alive until the last game, no matter how slim the chances. Losing the Territorial Cup means it will only be more beautiful to see it return home to Tempe next year. Speaking of beautiful, let’s talk about those uniforms.
There’s not too much to say here. Would it have been nice to win in the classic home uniform with the Sparky helmet? Of course. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that the gold Sparky helmet atop a maroon jersey and gold pants is uniform perfection. I cannot stress enough how great the classic Sparky uniform is. There is still plenty of commentary from outside the Arizona State fanbase that calls the Sparky helmet ASU’s best headgear offering. Of course, there is the constant voice that echoes within the buttes from the home crowd that wants Sparky all the time. While I love Sparky and prefer him to the pitchfork, I still have a great deal of love for the pitchfork and am enjoying the more equitable use of the two logos throughout the season. Still, Sparky is the quintessential ASU helmet, and the gold Sparky helmet, maroon jersey, gold pant combination is the quintessential ASU uniform.
Gold/Black/Gold: A+
The Week to Come
Uniform
Arizona State will be heading to El Paso to once again play in the Sun Bowl. They’ll line up against Duke, just as they did in 2014, the last time they won 20 games over two seasons. The Sun Devils are coming off a tough loss to end the season, while the Blue Devils are riding high after claiming the ACC conference crown. It will be an opportunity for ASU to win 20 games over two seasons, with Duke being the team they need to beat to achieve that. When the Sun Devils take the field against the Blue Devils, they will be wearing a gold Sparky helmet, white jersey, and gold pant uniform combination.
The white jerseys feature maroon “Arizona State” print in Sun Devil Bold font across the chest, a Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl patch on the right shoulder, maroon player numbers outlined in gold on both the front and back of the jersey, as well as the TV numbers on the top of the sleeves. The sleeves feature angular white fabric accents that represent the rays of the Arizona state flag.
The nameplate on the back of the jersey utilizes the maroon plain text font. On the front of the jersey, near the left shoulder, is a gold adidas logo. Near the right shoulder is a maroon and gold Big 12 logo. There is also a maroon O2V printed on the inside of the collar, and, as always, at the base of the collar is the black PT*42 shield.
The gold pants have a maroon adidas logo on the left hip and a gold pitchfork with maroon trim on the right hip.
Helmet
The gold helmet features the classic Sparky decal on either side of the helmet and a maroon center stripe. The facemask is white, and the front bumper has a white base and maroon word mark that reads “Sun Devils” which is outlined in gold. The white chinstrap features a gold pitchfork with maroon trim, while the actual white straps feature maroon “Arizona State” print.
The decals on the back of the helmet include a transparent 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 over Tempe, and an American flag. The decals on the back of the helmet are rounded by the maroon “Arizona State” text with gold outline on a white base rear bumper.
Cleats and Socks
The Sun Devils will wear white cleats against Duke. From left to right, there are three 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 pair is 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 upward toward the heel of the shoe. They have a textured white base with three maroon stripes and an adizero Electric wordmark on the outside of the shoe. The top portion of the cleat is a primeknit with a maroon adizero wordmark on the tongue, and there is a white adidas logo with a maroon outline on the instep. It has white laces speckled with maroon and a white heel tab with a maroon adizero Electric logo. The next pair is the adizero Impact. It features a white sole, a white base with three maroon stripes and mesh-textured stylizations on the outside of the shoe, and an identical maroon three-stripe mark on the instep. The white laces are speckled with maroon, there is a white tongue loop with a white adizero wordmark on the tongue, and the cleat also has a white finger loop on the heel.
The final pair is the adizero Chaos, made for more ankle support for heavier linemen. It has a white sole and base, maroon mesh-styled three stripes on the outside of the foot, and white laces.
White socks will be worn to match the cleats as well.
Gloves
The Sun Devils will wear maroon and black 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 maroon adizeros feature a maroon pitchfork with gold trim on the palm of each glove. They also have three white stripes logo on the back of the hand, a white adidas logo on the corner of the wrist strap, and a maroon, tonal 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 maroon adidas Freak gloves feature the same maroon pitchfork palm design as the adizero, three white stripes on the back of the hand, and differ by having a white adizero wordmark on the maroon wristband. Finally, for linemen, the gloves on the bottom are adidas Freak-Max, which boast extra padding on the heel of the palm to withstand the contact linemen endure throughout a game. They are plain black with black padding on the palm, and along with a gold adidas logo on the back of the hand, they also have gold accents on the knuckles and the black wrist-wrap.
Reaction
Sparky closes it out this season and I couldn’t be happier to see it. This is the second time this season that this exact combination is being worn, with the first coming in Ames during Jeff Sims’s record setting game in a win over Iowa State. The lone difference here is that there will be a Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl patch on the right shoulder for this game. The Sparky helmet with a white facemask is 2-0 over the last two seasons with a win over BYU in November 2024 as well as the aforementioned win over Iowa State this season.
Each year, and let’s be honest, each week, people clamor for Sparky, and the equipment staff has given them what they wanted this season. This is the sixth game in which a variation of Sparky has been worn this season. The large Sparky face on a white helmet was worn in week 2 against Mississippi State, the classic Sparky helmet with a maroon facemask was worn for week 4 against Baylor and to close out the season in the Territorial Cup game, the classic Sparky helmet with a white facemask was worn in week 10 and for this Sun Bowl game, and let us not forget the groundbreaking white Sparky helmet worn for the week 13 matchup against Colorado.
That means the Sun Devils will have worn Sparky six times and pitchforks seven times this season. Almost an even split. This shows how far things have come. From 2011-13, there was no usage of Sparky. In 2014, the equipment staff snuck Sparky in at the 11th hour for the Territorial Cup game. After that, Sparky was worn for the Homecoming game only from 2015-2018. It was then worn for only the Territorial Cup game in 2019 and 2020, and has continued to be worn for that game ever since.
The 2021 season was the first since 2010 in which Sparky appeared more than once, with an oversized Sparky logo accompanying the revival of the gold jersey. The large Sparky face made its first appearance on a football uniform in 2022 and has made at least one appearance every season since. The 2024 season took the classic Sparky decal to another height during the pitchfork era, when he was worn earlier than expected, a week before the Territorial Cup game, then worn every week thereafter during the Big 12 Championship and playoff run. Even then, Sparky was still worn in one less game than he was this season. Almost half of the games featured Sparky, which is a giant step forward and just about where I believe the distribution of helmet themes ought to be from here on forward.
All that being said, this is a great look, and while I prefer the maroon facemask to the white with the gold Sparky helmet, it works really well with the away white jersey that the Sun Devils will be wearing at the Sun Bowl. This is a great uniform to close out the season with, and I can’t wait to see them take the field with it on.
What Color Travelling 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 gold Uscape sweater that had a maroon collar and maroon chest stripe with white Arizona State print within it. Under that was a gold quarter zip that had a gold pitchfork with maroon trim next to a maroon ASU letter mark on the left chest and a white adidas logo on the right. Under the quarter zip, he wore a white polo that had a gold pitchfork with maroon trim on the left chest and a maroon adidas logo on the right. He finished off the fit with a pair of adidas Superskate shoes.
#Faniforms Presented by Cactus Sports
After a full season of submissions and voting, we have #Faniforms Presented by Cactus Sports champion! Congratulations to @nicole_pinter6 on winning this season’s #faniforms presented by Cactus Sports context and receiving the $125 Cactus Sports gift card prize!
