SEE IT: Sarah Fuller, kicker on Vanderbilt, becomes first woman to play in Power 5 college football game
Sarah Fuller, a senior goalkeeper on Vanderbilt’s soccer team, crossed over to the gridiron and made her mark on history Saturday, becoming the first woman to play in a game at college football’s highest level.
She lofted a low squib kick to start the second half of the Commodores’ battle with the Missouri Tigers.
Fuller, who tried out for the football team earlier this month, now represents the first woman ever to compete in a Power 5 contest.
HISTORY MADE 👏@VandyFootball’s Sarah Fuller is the first woman in college football history to play in a Power 5 game. pic.twitter.com/zhSaLqa3Bg
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) November 28, 2020
Her kickoff was downed at the 35-yard line, and fans at the sparsely attended game in Columbia, Mo., rose to their feet to cheer on history.
Fuller, of Wylie, Texas, wore a sticker on the back of her helmet that said: “PLAY LIKE A GIRL.”
She joins of Katie Hnida, who played for the University of New Mexico Lobos, and April Goss, who suited up for the Kent State Golden Flashes, among women who have played at the FBS level, a broader category that includes the top conferences in Division I.
The Commodores experienced a shortage of players this month due to coronavirus quarantines. Their new trailblazing kicker has made the Southeast Conference academic honor roll multiple times and started nine games for Vanderbilt’s conference-winning women’s soccer team this fall.
Ahead of the game, Fuller described her history-bending opportunity as “amazing and incredible” but said she also knows “this is a job I need to do, and I want to help the team out,” according to the team website.
