‘Desert Fuel’ adds to fire in race for college football’s hottest uniforms

It all started with Oregon, supposedly.

The school, fed by Nike, churned out new and flashy uniforms each year and, once they became both a recruiting and winning machine, other schools began to take notice.

It’s simple: When a school plays on a national stage, it wants to look its best. Viewers notice, and so do recruits.

So when Arizona State announced its new ‘Desert Fuel’ uniforms are what the Sun Devils will wear when Notre Dame comes to Tempe, there was much chatter on social media and hype from players and fans. This is the second-straight year ASU has debuted a new uniform combination against Notre Dame, and it once again was a headline around the Valley. People noticed.

Well, most people.

“Most weeks I don’t even know,” said ASU head coach Todd Graham. “Like when we went out on the field last week I kind of went ‘Ah, well. Black helmet, black pants, red…that kind of looks a little different.'”

Graham himself said back in his day, he didn’t have the full wardrobe of uniform combinations to choose from.

“I wore a mesh jersey,” he said. “Our (current) practice jersey is what I wore for games. I had one helmet I wore for four years, never got a new one.”

It wasn’t a leather helmet, he was quick to point out, slightly rolling his eyes.

“If it was up to me, we’d wear a gold helmet, a maroon jersey, and gold pants every week,” he added.

That’s not to say he doesn’t like the Desert Fuel combination. He said it was “sharp.”

“They’re cool. Unlike Coach Graham,” he joked.

And he’s happy that his players are thrilled to be wearing the snazzy new digs. But at the end of the day, he wants the focus for his players to be on Notre Dame — not how they look.

“I just want to win,” he said.

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