2025 Uniformity – Week 9: Sun Devils Go Gold and Black Against Houston
Week in Review
What a difference a week makes. Last week, there was nothing of note to talk about after a dreadful performance against Utah. This week, the Sun Devil defense that we thought we knew was back with a vengeance and shocked a powerful Texas Tech offense by holding them to 22 points — less than half the 47 points per game they averaged coming into the contest. There was much talk about how dominant the lines for Texas Tech are on both sides of the ball, leading up to the matchup. It’s fair to say that a decimated Sun Devil offensive line held serve, even with the 3rd string center playing each snap. It’s also fair to say that the ASU defensive line was dominant, holding Texas Tech to 276 total offensive yards, which is less than half of the 558 yards per game they were gaining prior to playing the Sun Devils. Let’s not forget about the Sun Devil offense either. Though the struggles to find the end zone persist, Sam Leavitt played well coming back from injury, notching his first 300+ yard passing game of the season, while Jordyn Tyson earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week with 10 catches for 105 yards and a touchdown, doing so while playing with a bum hamstring for most of the second half. Raleek Brown met the most resistance against that very talented Red Raider defensive line, but still was able to earn 69 yards and score the game-winning touchdown with less than a minute to go in the 4th quarter. As a result of this performance, the Sun Devils still have not lost back-to-back games since 2023. All in all, it was an impressive performance and a beautiful thing to watch. Speaking of beautiful, let’s talk about those uniforms!
The Sun Devils wore throwback uniforms paying homage to the undefeated 1975 ASU Football team, celebrating the team’s 50th anniversary and their induction into the ASU Hall of Fame. The only issue is that the uniform wasn’t altogether accurate. There was a single maroon stripe on the pants, while the ’75 team had two maroon stripes. The decal on the helmet was a maroon sunburst while the ’75 team had a gold sunburst. On the 1975 white uniforms, the Sparky sunburst patch on the shoulder has a maroon base, while the uniform this weekend has Sparky in a gold base sunburst patch. Despite all of those inconsistencies, the uniform was simply beautiful. The typeface of both the player numbers and the nameplates, coupled with that vintage white jersey, was an absolute chef’s kiss. I’ve made no secret in the past that I’m no fan of wearing light colors at home that allow the opposition to wear their home uniforms on Frank Kush Field. It didn’t matter this week. These uniforms were beautifully executed, and those in Tempe weren’t the only ones who thought so. It was UniAuthority’s #3 uniform of the week, and UNISWAG named the 1975 throwback its top uniform of the week, a well-deserved honor. I don’t disagree with it being the best uniform of the week, but as a stickler for details, I can’t give the highest grade due to the aforementioned inaccuracies compared to the actual uniform worn in 1975. I still loved it, though.
1975 Throwback Uniform: A
The Week to Come
Uniform
Last week was fun, and there’s hope that momentum will build, but with that being said, it’s time to turn the page and move on to the next game. ASU will be hosting a much-improved Houston team that is coming in with only one loss overall, which also happens to be a conference loss. The winner of this weekend’s contest remains in the hotly contested battle for the two coveted spots in the Big 12 Championship Game. When the Sun Devils take the field against the Cougars, they will be wearing a gold helmet, black jersey, gold pant uniform combination.
The black jerseys feature gold “Sun Devils” print in Sun Devil Bold font across the chest, gold player numbers with no outline 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 black fabric accents that represent the rays of 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 gold Big 12 logo. There is also a gold 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 a black standard sized pitchfork decals with gold trim. The facemask and chinstrap are black, and the front bumper has a black base and gold word mark that reads “Sun Devils.” The decals on the back of the helmet include a transparent Big 12 logo with a black border, a black PT*42 shield honoring the legendary Sun Devil, Pat Tillman, a black Warning label which is in the shape of the state of Arizona, features gold text, and has a small, gold pitchfork with black trim over Tempe, and an American flag. The decals on the back of the helmet are rounded by the gold “Arizona State” text black base rear bumper.
Cleats and Socks
The Sun Devils will wear black cleats against Houston. There are two different types of cleats that will be worn. The first pair 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).
The top pair is the adizero Impact. It features an iridescent sole, the black base has three white stripes with mesh texture stylizations on the outside of the shoe, and there is an identical white three stripe mark on the instep as well. The black laces are speckled with white, there is a black 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 black sole and base with white mesh stylized three stripes on the outside of the foot, and black laces.
Black 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
The gold helmet, black jersey, gold pant combination has been worn only once before in a close home loss to Colorado in 2019. It will be facing a stiff opponent in Houston this weekend, so the Devils will need to build on the momentum of last week’s big win to get this uniform combination in the win column.
Black certainly seems to be getting its fair share of attention since returning to the color arsenal in the equipment room, as it has been the main color attraction for three of the last four games. My initial thought on this is that it’s a pretty good look. It’s basically the traditional home uniform, but with a black jersey rather than a maroon jersey. Matching the helmet decals, facemask, chinstrap, and shoes to the jersey are all solid choices for the cohesiveness of the look. I’m not crazy about the decal choice on this helmet. The decal itself is sharp, but the gold trim with no additional outline makes it so that the full pitchfork logo does not jump off the helmet shell. Rather, the color match is so good that the gold trim around the pitchfork is swallowed up by the helmet. The black pitchfork, however, provides a stark contrast against the gold paint, which does make it stand out pretty well. If I had my druthers, I’d like to see a black center stripe on this as well.
I like, but don’t love, this uniform combination. I do appreciate the fact that black is weaving its way back into the Arizona State uniform color scheme more regularly. This generation of black jerseys are especially tough looking, so I will be looking forward to dusk falling into night, and these uniforms being worn for what will hopefully be a big 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 Branded Bills cap with a 1975 sunburst Sparky patch matching that on the shoulder of the throwback uniform. He also wore a white t-shirt with that same sunburst Sparky shoulder patch design overlaying the maroon and gold tri-stripe design from the throwback uniform’s sleeve. He wore a beige polo that had a maroon pitchfork ASU logo with gold trim and outline. He also wore a maroon and beige braided belt and white and maroon adidas Samba OGs. He carried a gray Heritage Gear duffel bag that had a maroon, white, and gold vintage leaning Sparky patch and a Sparky luggage 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 @lilbobby28 on earning a semi-finalist spot last week! Best of luck to @jpopasu, @JaggerD70, and @nicole_pinter6 in this week’s Twitter and Instagram poll!
