2025 Uniformity – Week 4: ASU Brings out classic Sparky helmet against Baylor

Week in Review

After coming off a tough loss the week prior, which led to falling out of the AP Poll, it was difficult to anticipate how the Sun Devils and Sun Devil fans would react. It turns out that both were able to respond and bounce back with solid performances. Outside of diehard fans, ASU’s fanbase can be a fickle bunch, but a lackluster win over NAU and a last-second loss to Mississippi State were not enough to deactivate the Valley. The Sun Devils sold out their second consecutive home game, and the fans showed up in droves, donning their properly colored faniforms for the Maroon Monsoon theme game.

The team started a little slow again, but seemed to be playing with more purpose. They picked up steam as the game wore on, with Sam Leavitt seemingly gaining his confidence and his touch back, while Jordyn Tyson continued to be superhuman in his ability to get open and make plays after the catch. Raleek Brown had a breakout game, gaining 144 yards on 12 carries, including a 75-yard touchdown run in which he featured his highly touted speed. There are still some things for the Sun Devils to clean up, particularly the lines on both sides of the ball, as well as Leavitt still needing to put together a full, consistent game of delivering crisp passes and spreading the ball around to more receivers. All that said, it was great to see the Devils come into the game and take care of business, putting the game out of reach by the end of the third quarter. It was also good to see the Maroon Monsoon uniforms back on Frank Kush Field.

Every year, the Maroon Monsoon is one of my favorite uniforms. It features the deep, warm, yet intimidating primary maroon color that boasts a mention in the fight song, but has enough splashes of gold to truly get the best of both of the team’s colors on full display.

While I love the Maroon Monsoon, this year, not being any different, I do take some issue with the choice in helmet build. The maroon helmet featured a white pitchfork with gold trim. This is the exact same helmet decal as the 2024 Maroon Monsoon, only it lacked the center stripe, which gave the 2024 helmet a bit more interest than the 2025 lid. The lack of creativity or variety was disappointing, as was the use of a white pitchfork; not only because it had just been done last year, but also because it would have looked great to see a gold pitchfork, or something a little bit different, to give the helmet a more uniform look (no pun intended). On top of that, the color shift maroon helmets have had their time come and go. It’s overdue to give a new maroon paint finish its time in the spotlight. A straight-up maroon with a glossy finish, similar to the original maroon helmets after the rebrand, or even a satin or matte finish, would be a nice change of pace. Despite that gripe, the helmet still looked pretty good with the uniform, particularly because the white outlines of the player numbers tie in the white pitchforks nicely. In fact, it looked good enough to earn the #4 spot on the UNISWAG uniform of the week list, and took the top spot on UniAuthority’s list.

Traditional Gold/Maroon/Gold: B+

The Week to Come

Uniform

As Arizona State travels to Waco to take on Baylor this weekend, both teams will be entering the game having had decisive Week 3 victories. Baylor has had an impressive start to the season, knocking off SMU in overtime and showing the propensity to be able to score at will. While their defense is still something of a liability against tougher competition, they seem to be playing well as a team, picking up where they left off after a hot finish to the 2024 season. When the Sun Devils take the field against the Bears, 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 now 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 maroon, and the front bumper has a white base and maroon word mark that reads “Sun Devils,” which is outlined in gold. The maroon chinstrap features a maroon pitchfork with gold trim, while the actual maroon straps feature gold “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 Baylor. 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 feature gold accents on the knuckles and the black wrist wrap.

Reaction

I love Sparky. Not much more to say, though I’ll squeeze a few more words out of this keyboard to talk about the uniform and the choice to wear it this weekend. The fanbase as a whole, which has been thirsting for the classic Sparky helmet, should be content this week. The initial introduction of the new core uniforms this year included a Sparky helmet, which led many to believe that Sparky was being reintroduced as the sole primary helmet. That was not the case, as the helmets in the press release were simply placeholders, while the jerseys and pants were meant to be the main focus. Now that expectations have been tempered, there still seems to be a rededication to intermixing the classic Sparky helmet in more often rather than just during the Territorial Cup, which had become the tradition for the last decade or so.

The choice to wear the gold-based Sparky helmet against Baylor is a good one, in my opinion, for a few reasons. One, you can never go wrong with Sparky, which is one of the most recognizable and iconic helmets in college football. It is not only ASU’s fanbase that asks for Sparky. In my eleven seasons of covering Arizona State football uniforms, the Sparky helmet has been nationally pleaded for and lauded by fans of the sport. I’ve been reached out to by countless people telling me how elite the helmet is, and I cannot disagree with them. The second reason it’s a good idea is because Baylor wears a similar gold helmet from time to time. Not that it will throw Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson off, but if looking out and seeing the same color helmet he’s used to seeing in practice makes him think twice, then that could be helpful. Finally, this seems to confirm the fact that the Sparky helmet will be used with at least a bit more regularity than in years past. Last season was a bit of an anomaly as the Sun Devils began wearing Sparky against BYU and kept riding the wave through the Peach Bowl. That was more of an organic movement than a deliberate choice. But with that opened a window of opportunity to wear Sparky more than once a season, and it seems that the athletic department has chosen to seize the moment.

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 maroon polo that had a maroon pitchfork with gold trim on the left chest, and a gold adidas logo on the right. He was carrying a gray Heritage Gear Weekender Duffle bag with the vintage Sparky leaning on the ASU letter mark logo as a patch. He also wore a maroon Vineyard Vines belt that had a pattern of maroon pitchforks with gold trim. For his footwear, he wore gold Stance socks with black and maroon stripes and the new maroon ASU Forum Low CL shoes that have Sparky on the tongue.

#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 @Levi_208 on earning a semi-finalist spot last week! Best of luck to @MrGabeRamos, @TylerHam311, and @SNDVL5 in this week’s Twitter and Instagram poll!