2025 Uniformity – Week 12: Sun Devils Wear Familiar Salute to Service Uniform

Week in Review

Jeff Sims. That’s it. That’s the review.

You want more? Ok, fine. The Sun Devils entered cold, rainy Ames, Iowa, following an embarrassing loss to a Houston team they had no business losing to. They limped into the contest, literally and figuratively, with starting quarterback Sam Leavitt out for the season, and star wide receiver Jordyn Tyson still out nursing a strained hamstring. ASU hasn’t lost back-to-back games since the 2023 season, but with the injuries mounting, going on the road in bad weather against a tough Iowa State team would lead one to believe that it would be difficult to avoid such a fate. Enter Jeff Sims. In his third start as a Sun Devil, quarterback Jeff Sims put the team on his back, running for 228 yards and two touchdowns while also throwing for 177 yards and a touchdown. In the rainy conditions, Sims did turn the ball over, losing two fumbles and throwing an interception, a characteristic that has plagued him in the past, but he overcame that and a plethora of Sun Devil penalties to will his team to victory. In a time when Sun Devil fans were thinking things were looking dark, Sims ignited the light of hope for the remainder of the season. Not only that, but he did it in a great looking uniform. His jersey from that game is now hanging in the Sun Devil Athletics Hall of Fame after setting a single-game record for rushing yards by a quarterback. Let’s talk about that uniform that Sims and the Sun Devils wore against Iowa State.

The Devils wore Sparky for the second time this season, both while on the road (third if you count the Sparky face decal worn against Mississippi State, which was also on the road). The only difference between the away Sparky uniform combination against Iowa State and that which they wore earlier in the season against Baylor is that the helmet’s facemask was white against Iowa State rather than maroon. It was a great look and the white facemask, while not my favorite with the Sparky lid, complemented the white away uniform. It also played well given the rainy conditions, helping the helmet and uniform stand out more through the gray and rain. It was a fantastic look, but I still implore the equipment staff to please bring back the gold helmet, white jersey, maroon pant away uniform combination. That classic look has been gone too long. The look from the last game was still a classic all-timer, though.

Gold Sparky/White/Gold: A

The Week to Come

Uniform

ASU had a much needed bye week to rest and hopefully get some guys healthy ahead of their Salute to Service/Homecoming combination game against West Virginia. The Mountaineers come into Tempe amid what coach Rich Rodriguez and WVU fans hope will be a renaissance of his first coaching stint with the school, when they saw sustained success together. There have been some growing pains, but there have also been some bright spots along the way. The Sun Devils will hope to avoid giving West Virginia another bright spot as they look to improve their small chance of making their way back to the Big 12 Championship game. ASU can’t afford another loss this season if it wants another shot at the conference title. As they look to continue their winning ways, they will be wearing a white helmet, a maroon jersey, and white pants in a Salute to Service uniform combination.

The maroon jerseys feature gold “Arizona State” print in Sun Devil Bold font across the chest, gold player numbers outlined in white on both the front and back of the jersey, as well as the TV numbers on the sleeves. The sleeves also feature angular maroon fabric accents, symbolizing the rays on the Arizona state flag.

The nameplate on the back of the jersey utilizes the gold 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 gold O2V printed on the inside of the collar, harkening to the final lyrics to the Arizona State fight song, “Onward to Victory.” 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 white pants have a maroon adidas logo on the left hip and a maroon pitchfork with gold trim on the right hip.

Helmet

The white helmet features Pat Tillman honor shield decals for the Salute to Service game. The shield has a chrome maroon digicamo base with gold PT*42 print and a gold border. There is also a two-tone center stripe, which boasts a chrome maroon digicamo center outlined by thin strips of gold. The facemask is white, and the front bumper has a white base and maroon “Arizona State” text.

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 “Sun Devils” text with 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 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 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 three maroon stripes logo on the back of the hand, a maroon adidas logo on the corner of the wrist strap, and a white, 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 white adidas Freak gloves feature the same maroon pitchfork palm design as the adizero, three maroon stripes on the back of the hand, and differ by having a maroon adizero wordmark on the white 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 white with black padding on the palm, and along with a maroon adidas logo on the back of the hand, they also have maroon accents on the knuckles and the black wrist-wrap.

Reaction

This is a good look. I know it’s a good look because it was a good look last year as well. This season’s Salute to Service uniform is almost an exact repeat of the Salute to Service uniform from last season, with the only differences coming from the updated core jersey and pants, as well as the usage of a white facemask this year, compared to a maroon facemask last year. People won’t love the use of white at home. I don’t mind it in this sense. The white helmet has a maroon decal, the maroon jersey has white as a tertiary color around the numbers, and the white pants complement that. It’s a solid look. I just miss the effort and creativity that used to go into the uniforms week after week, particularly for the Salute to Service game, which has given us some of our most iconic uniforms in the past.

Don’t get me wrong, the day-to-day grind and the hard work that the student managers and assistants put in is not to be ignored. I so appreciate what that group does to make this team look good, along with everything they do each practice, and working deep into nights and early mornings after away games or night games. There does, however, seem to be less effort being put into the aesthetics of the uniforms. If there were more care and attention to detail, the 1975 throwback uniform would have had the correct stripes on the pants and the correct decal on the helmet. If there were more care, the pitchfork decals would have an outline so that the flame trim didn’t get completely lost on the helmet, making the pitchfork decal look even smaller than it already is. And in this case, there would be something more done to have some creativity for the Salute to Service uniform that honors our military and the late, great Pat Tillman with something more than swapping out the facemask from the year before. I fully expect to love how the team looks on the field this weekend, and I can’t wait. I will rate the uniform as it stands by itself and how it looked that day, rather than counting the fact that it’s a near-repeat against it. However, I would love to see more coming from the equipment room in the coming seasons. Increased and creative use of Sparky, not just on the road, but at home. Decals that take into consideration how they appear on the helmet as a whole. More care should be put into honoring Pat and his brothers and sisters in arms. It will give more interest to the uniforms as a whole, give the staff in the equipment room more pride and freedom to flex their creative muscles, and increase eyes on Sun Devil football as the Valley continues to activate and the national brand continues to grow.

What Color 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 had a maroon Terrex puff jacket, a maroon half-zip fleece that has a maroon pitchfork with gold trim on the left chest and a gold adidas logo on the right chest, and a black shirt that has Sun Devil women’s basketball coach Molly Miller’s “Row” slogan printed in big, bold, gold letters. Below the gold “Row” is a maroon pair of oars, a gold pitchfork with maroon trim, and a maroon basketball. He also wore windy pine style Stance socks and multicolor adidas Retropy E5 shoes, with ASU gold being the color that stood out the most among the assortment of colors on the 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 and Instagram for the fan vote! Cast your vote for the best #faniform each week!

Congratulations to @matt_joanes on earning a semi-finalist spot last week! Best of luck to @JaggerD70, @Skyisthelimit22, and @andrewtaylor09 in this week’s Twitter and Instagram poll!