Vanderbilt kicker Sarah Fuller made college football history on Saturday in becoming the first woman to play in a Power Five game, handling second-half kickoff duties in a game that didn't offer her much in the way of scoring opportunity. Missouri won the game, 41-0.
Fuller's kickoff went to the Missouri 35-yard line and was downed by the Tigers' Mason Pack.
On the back of her helmet read an inspirational message: "Play like a girl."
"Honestly, it's just so exciting," Fuller told SEC Network after the game. "The fact that I can represent the little girls out there who wanted to do this or thought about playing football or any sport, really, and it encourages them to be able to step out and do something big like this, so it's awesome."
The Vanderbilt coaching staff extended Fuller the opportunity to compete after COVID-19 testing decimated the team's specialist roster.
According to ESPN, Commodores players have taken to nicknaming Fuller "Champ" for her pedigree as a two-time SEC champion as goalkeeper of the Vanderbilt women's soccer team.
The Power Five conferences include the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and ACC. Two other female kickers have previously appeared in an FBS college game: April Goss of Kent State and Katie Hnida of New Mexico.
