2025 Uniformity – Week 8: Sun Devils Look to Bounce Back in Throwbacks
Week in Review
There really isn’t much to break down about last week’s game. The Sun Devils were outmanned, outmatched, and outcoached in every aspect of the game. ASU showed an ability to move the ball early in the game, but was unable to finish drives, a common theme that has reared its ugly head all season. On the contrary, Utah had no trouble finding the end zone, doing so by throwing the ball only 13 times all night. Poor tackling and missing reads when Utah ran Run-Pass Option plays, with the lack of any apparent adjustment, did the Devil defense in. All said, Arizona State did not play well, so let’s not dwell on that. Instead, let’s talk about something that had at least a bit of positivity: the uniforms.
The dark, dreary, rainy night set up perfectly for these black helmet, white jersey, black pant uniforms, especially with the gold silhouette pitchfork decals jumping off the midnight black helmets. The uniforms themselves looked sharp, and if the game would’ve been more competitive, or better, if the Devils had won, it would’ve added to the lore of the same uniform combination that was worn during the Jael Mary. Instead, the shine was quickly taken off the game, and the uniforms as a result. Without letting the game results cloud my judgment, I do believe that this is a sharp look. As I said last week, I would have liked to see a different decal on the helmet, but overall, it was a really good look, and it was nice to see it again for the first time since 2017.
Black/White/Black: B+
The Week to Come
Uniform
There is no time to breathe for the Sun Devils, as the only team that has beaten the Utah team that just dominated the Devils last week will be visiting when Texas Tech comes to town. Texas Tech received major financial support from a group of wealthy donors and went out to acquire a powerful roster. That financial investment has seemingly paid off thus far as the Red Raiders enter this Saturday’s game undefeated and ranked 7th in the country. Depending on the availability of both Sam Leavitt and Tech QB Behren Morton, who was injured last week, this weekend may be a battle of the backups. Either way, this is going to be an uphill battle for the Sun Devils, who are looking to bounce back and avoid back-to-back losses for the first time since 2023. When the Sun Devils take the field against Texas Tech, they will be wearing a throwback dedication uniform in honor of the 50th anniversary of the undefeated, 1975 Fiesta Bowl Champion Arizona State team, which will be inducted into the ASU Hall of Fame on Saturday as well. The throwback look features a gold helmet, vintage white jersey, and gold pant uniform combination.
The vintage white jerseys feature maroon collegiate block player numbers with no outline on both the front and back of the jersey. The sleeves feature a maroon, white, gold, white, maroon horizontal stripe pattern, with a patch that has Sparky within a gold sun atop the shoulders.
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 maroon adidas logo. Near the right shoulder is a maroon and gold Big 12 logo. There is an absence of something that has become a mainstay on ASU jerseys for the past 20 years, and that is the PT*42 patch at the base of the collar. This is not anything other than trying to maintain the accuracy of the time period.
The gold pants have a maroon adidas logo on the left hip and single maroon stripes running down the outside of each leg.
Helmet
The gold helmet features a single maroon stripe and maroon sunbursts with gold sun flares and gold running ASU script. Note that this is not the decal the 1975 team wore, but was the decal from 1976-79. The 1975 team wore the inverse of this decal, which was a gold sunburst with maroon flares and a maroon ASU script. 1975 was the only year that decal with that colorway was ever worn. The facemask is gray, and the front bumper is blank white, both of which are accurate to the time. The white chinstrap has a gold pitchfork with maroon trim on the chin guard and maroon Arizona State print on the actual straps.
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 gold 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 feature rounded large block player numbers on either side of the maroon center stripe for double-digit numbers, while single-digit numbers will only appear to the right of the stripe. The rear bumper is also blank white.
Cleats and Socks
The Sun Devils will wear white cleats against Texas Tech. 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 white gloves on theme with the throwback uniforms, 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 gold sunburst with maroon sun flares and a maroon running ASU script that is completed when the palms are placed together. They also have three maroon stripes logo on the back of the hand, a maroon adidas logo on the corner of the wrist strap, a white, tonal adizero word mark on the pointer finger, and gold seams in between the fingers and along the wrist. 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 gold sunburst palm design as the adizero, three maroon stripes logo on the back of the hand, a maroon adizero wordmark on the wrist strap, and gold seams in between the fingers and along the wrist. 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 isn’t the first time this decade that the Sun Devils have paid homage to the 1975 team with a throwback uniform. While this year is the 50th anniversary of the ’75 Fiesta Bowl champs, the Sun Devils also wore a throwback uniform for the 45th anniversary. Unfortunately, it was seen only by critical staff workers and a bevy of cardboard cutouts in the Sun Devil Stadium. The game against UCLA, a loss, was the only home game in 2020 and took place in the midst of the Covid pandemic when no one was allowed to attend. There were two primary differences between the 2020 throwback and this 2025 throwback: the first being that the jersey in 2020 was maroon while this year’s is a vintage white, the second is that the 2020 helmet had the correct, gold sunburst decal on it.
I don’t love that the decal is not the same color way as was worn by the 1975 team. It’s a decal that is unique to that year and to that team that did such special things on the football field and ended the year as the only undefeated team in the nation. The gold sunburst decal would have put this over the top for me, but now I’ll always be wondering what it would’ve looked like with it. The maroon sunburst is not bad by any stretch, and it’s more noticeable on the helmet, it’s just not correct.
I also don’t love wearing white at home which in turn allows the opposing team to wear their home colors onto ASU turf. However, since we already saw a maroon version in 2020, I do think it’s cool to be able to see what the 1975 team looked like when they were on the road. The shoulder stripes and Sparky patches on the sleeves are stellar and I believe will really bring this whole uniform together as a whole package when on the field. All we can do now is admire how good they look and hope that they do right by the 1975 team and do what the 1975 team did all season: Win.
What Color #Faniform 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 puff jacket that has a maroon pitchfork with gold trim on the left chest, a white quarterzip that has a gold pitchfork with maroon trim on the left chest, and a black polo that has a maroon pitchfork with gold trim on the right chest He also wore a maroon and white braided belt and some black adidas Advantage 2.0 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 @keithsaurin on earning a semi-finalist spot last week! Best of luck to @heynickhere, @lilbobby28, and @lovebhakta in this week’s Twitter and Instagram poll!
