2025 Uniformity – Week 10: Sun Devils Bust Out Sparky Against Iowa State
Week in Review
The game against Houston left a lot to unpack, along with an incredibly difficult and unlikely path back to the Big 12 Championship game. The defense that had been so staunch against Texas Tech found trouble defending the quarterback draw and a 6’8” tight end. Despite giving up an early touchdown on the first possession of the game, the Sun Devils looked like they were going to reach into their bag of grit on their ensuing drive. Sam Leavitt picked up 16 of the 18 yards needed on a third down, only to leave the game with an injury as a result of that play. Backup quarterback Jeff Sims picked the drive up where Leavitt had left off and moved the ball with relative success, but ultimately stalled, leading to a missed field goal stemming from a bad snap. That drive and that field goal attempt set the tone for the remainder of the game. The offense would sputter, and special teams would be disastrous until the 4th quarter.
Sam Leavitt did end up returning to the game and took a beating as the offensive line struggled to protect him. Despite those struggles, Leavitt still threw for 270 yards and a touchdown. As he was driving the Sun Devils into a position where they could pull within a score, Leavitt once again walked off the field gingerly and had to give way to Jeff Sims, who threw a touchdown pass to Chamon Matayer to pull the Devils within 8 of Houston. The defense found its footing in the second half and got the ball back to the offense with the opportunity to tie the game, but they were unable to capitalize. The Devils left the field with two conference losses and battered on the injury front. And with that, let’s talk about the uniforms they wore for this game.
The gold helmet, black jersey, and gold pant uniform combination is a decent enough look. The colors play well off of each other as there is sharp contrast and bold hues, However, this didn’t necessarily hit for me. While I love maroon and gold as much, if not more, than the next guy, I’m also not opposed to a color deviation here and there. This one just didn’t do it for me, though. Much of the issue was the helmet decal choice. A black pitchfork on a gold helmet isn’t a bad choice, but the decal design had no color edge around the gold flame trim of the pitchfork. That made it seem as if there was no flame trim at all, which reduces the appearance of an already minimalist logo. I will give flowers to the decision to put the black facemask and chinstraps on the helmet. That made for a tough look, but the overall uniform left a bit to be desired, especially after coming off that beautiful throwback uniform.
Gold/Black/Gold: B-
The Week to Come
Uniform
As Arizona State travels to Ames to take on Iowa State this weekend, both teams will be entering the game coming off tough losses. Iowa State had an impressive start to the season, but has run into challenges in the Win-Loss column as well as catching the injury bug. With that being the case, both teams will be hobbling into this rematch of the 2024 Big 12 Championship Game. When the Sun Devils take the field against the Cyclones, 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, 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 white jersey also features fabric numbers, which appear to have a larger vertical format than last season’s jersey.
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 Iowa State. 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, the white base has three maroon stripes with mesh texture stylizations on the outside of the shoe, and there is an identical maroon three stripe mark on the instep as well. 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 with maroon mesh stylized 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 meant to withstand all of the contact that linemen endure throughout the course of 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
The people clamor for Sparky each week, and this is giving them what they want. The Sun Devils wore Sparky against Iowa State in the conference championship game last year. That helmet boasted a maroon facemask, while this year, they will wear a white facemask with the gold Sparky helmet shell. The white facemask choice plays well with the white away jersey and gives the helmet a bit of a retro look. I’m still waiting for the return of the away uniform that features a gold helmet, white jersey, and maroon pants. It’s the best road combination that ASU has, and it has been years since it was worn. Even though I’d love to see that again, there’s nothing to complain about when you have Sparky on a gold helmet, white jersey, gold pant uniform combination. The Sun Devils will be looking great for their early day game on Saturday. Hopefully Jeff Sims and company will be able to play as good as they look.
What Color 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 how well-dressed he is. Last game, Rossini wore a black jacket that had a maroon pitchfork with gold trim over a gold Sparky polo and a black adidas shirt with a maroon and gold Shmoofoil logo. He wore black socks with maroon and gold accents and gold ASU Ultraboost shoes. He also carried his Heritage Gear duffel bag that features a leaning Sparky ASU patch and a Sparky bag tag.
#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 and Instagram for the fan vote! Cast your vote for the best #faniform each week!
Congratulations to @nicole_pinter6 on earning a semi-finalist spot last week! Best of luck to @sethjones17, @matt_joanes, and @marcaltieri in this week’s Twitter and Instagram poll!
