2025 Uniformity – Week 2: ASU will don Sparky’s face at Mississippi State

Week in Review

Tempe was abuzz with anticipation as a sold-out crowd poured into Mountain America Stadium to see how the 2025 Sun Devils would follow up a magical 2024 run. Opening the season against a scrappy NAU team that’s ranked in the top 20 of the FCS poll proved to be more challenging than that sold-out crowd would have hoped. The Devils committed many uncharacteristic penalties and struggled to gain a toehold of the line of scrimmage on either side of the ball. Arizona State prevailed by doubling up the Lumberjacks 38-19, largely on the laurels of the vast talent gap between the two rosters. There was much to be desired, but a win is a win, and this coaching staff is going to put the team to work to make the improvements needed going forward this season. All that said, seeing the first win tallied in the win column is a thing of beauty. Speaking of beautiful, let’s talk about the uniforms.

One simply cannot go wrong when pairing maroon and gold together, especially when doing so in the uniform color combination that has proven itself to be one of the best-looking and most iconic uniforms in college football. It’s not just the color combination, it’s the finer details. While wearing the traditional color combination for the home opener has been a mainstay since the pitchfork’s debut as the primary logo in 2011, the color correctness and dedication to history have not always been there. Powder yellow matte finish helmets, which lacked a maroon center stripe, were worn for years. The return to a gloss finish for the gold helmet and the reintroduction of a maroon center stripe to the helmet make the team truly resemble ASU, regardless of which logo is displayed on the side of the helmet.

The only criticism I have of this overall uniform is that of the decals. Not necessarily the choice of maroon pitchforks and center stripe, but instead for electing to go with the chrome-like finish rather than a more standard, straightforward colorway. There was also no maroon border around the pitchfork decal’s gold trim, which typically provides some distinction between the helmet and the pitchfork’s accent detail. On a positive note, the triumphant return of the team name to the jersey’s chest was a welcome sight.

Traditional Gold/Maroon/Gold: A-

The Week to Come

Uniform

As Arizona State travels to Starkville to take on Mississippi State this weekend, both teams will be entering the game having had decisive, yet unimpressive, Week 1 victories. The Bulldogs led by just a field goal, 13-10, over Southern Miss last weekend, only creating separation in the third quarter when they put up three straight touchdowns. However, the scoring ended there for them as the game ended in a 34-17 MSU victory. Quarterback Blake Shapen looked good, but rusty at times, in his first game in nearly a year, and the Bulldogs have some speed, but looked undisciplined at times. When the Sun Devils take the field against Mississippi State, they will wear a white helmet/white jersey/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 now have a maroon adidas logo on the left hip and a gold pitchfork with maroon trim on the right hip.

Helmet

The white helmet features large Sparky face decals on either side of the helmet and no center stripe. The facemask is white, and the front bumper has a white base and maroon word mark that reads “Arizona State”. The white chinstrap features a maroon pitchfork with gold trim, while the actual straps feature maroon “Arizona State” print.

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 over Tempe, and an American flag. The decals on the back of the helmet are rounded by the maroon “Arizona State” text on a white base, on the rear bumper.

If this helmet looks familiar, that’s because it is the exact same helmet build that the Sun Devils wore against Mississippi State last year. For that game, the helmet was matched with ASU’s gold Strategy alternate uniform.

Cleats and Socks

The Sun Devils will wear white cleats against Mississippi 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

It’s not often that the first away game of the season comes in week 2, but with that being the case this season, we’re able to get a look at an away uniform right off the bat. First off, the maroon Arizona State team name on the chest is a vast improvement over the away uniforms of the recent past. The text provides more school color on the white uniform, as do the larger format player numbers.

Secondly, the team has chosen to wear the exact same helmet build that they wore in their victory against Mississippi State last season in Tempe. That Sparky face helmet with the white facemask was paired with the gold Strategy jerseys and pants, which made for a unique and exciting look. This season is a bit more of a standard look; however, while the style of the pants is different, the base color is still the same as was worn against MSU last year.

Overall, I really do like this uniform combination as an away uniform. Gold pants paired with a white jersey is a classic color combination when the Sun Devils go on the road. The variety comes with the helmet choice. While the helmet was worn last season against the same opponent, it has never been worn with an away uniform. It gives a standard away uniform a bit more intrigue and takes advantage of the opportunity to showcase the great Sparky face decal on a national broadcast against an SEC opponent.

What Color ASU Fans Should Wear: Gold

#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!

Best of luck to @MileHighDevil, @lovebhakta, and @mtagle79 in this week’s Twitter and Instagram poll!