Vanderbilt Kicker Sarah Fuller Becomes First Woman To Score A Point In NCAA Power 5 Game
Sarah Fuller not only shattered glass ceilings, she shattered a football right through the uprights, kicking an extra point for her team. Not just once but twice on a college football Saturday, making history.
Fuller became the first woman to score in a Power 5 NCAA game according to the SEC Network.
The Vanderbilt kicker is also a goaltender for the university’s women’s soccer team. Her name was called on Saturday and the rest was, well, history. Literally.
Let’s hear from Fuller herself to tell the story:
“I was just super excited when we got that touchdown,” Fuller said in the postgame press conference. “I was ready to go out and roll. The guys were super pumped up and encouraging. So, I was very excited to get out there and do what I’ve been training for the past few weeks.”
On top of making history, Fuller also had a final that morning.
“My final was on a class called ‘War on Screen’ so we watched a lot of war movies,” Fuller said. “So that was a fun class, was probably the most fun final I’ve had.”
In a way, Fuller won not only a small victory for her team getting those points, but was a part of a bigger fight for women athletes nationwide.
It caught the attention of the US Women’s National Soccer Team, who’ve been fighting their own battle for equal pay. They showed Fuller some love and the kicker, who’s also a soccer goalie, appreciated it by retweeting the post:
Fuller was asked if this could be compared to any type of moment in soccer. Fuller said it was like a game-winning save you have to make, that “it could go either way…you got to make that big-time save.”
“I’m very thankful for every opportunity and the whole Vanderbilt staff has been incredible,” Fuller said. “It’s been an awesome journey.”
According to ESPN, Vanderbilt’s interim head coach at the time, Todd Fitch, said “the plan was for Fuller to handle kicks inside the 10-yard line, as she proved to be the most accurate among the team’s available kickers in that range.”
“She’s been accurate in that area of the field,” Fitch said per ESPN. “… We get in the game and she was highly accurate with it in that range, the extra points and inside the 10, so she was going to get those. The other kickers were going to get it further back…It was truly off statistics of the week’s preparation. It wasn’t about trying to do something special. It was truly who made most of those kicks.”
For Fuller, she said that’s how it’s been like the whole time she’s been with the team, being treated like an athlete.
“That’s what they’ve done this entire time, the Vanderbilt football staff has this whole time, has been if I can do it, if I’m good enough to do it,” Fuller said. “It wasn’t if I was a girl or not, so that’s something I’ve really appreciated. At the end of the day, they treated me like an athlete and that’s the best I could ask for.”
But, breaking news, it was all the Harry Potter socks Fuller said jokingly. The real question is, what Hogwarts house is Fuller in? (Harry Potter fans know what I’m talking about). Team Gryffindor, perhaps?
And this was only just less than 24 hours after ASU running back Jackson He made history in Arizona. He reportedly became the first Chinese-born player to score a touchdown in FBS history. That’s major!
On November 27, Fuller said “Let’s make history…#PlayLikeAGirl.”
On December 12, Fuller did exactly that.
What to Read Next...
At The Buzzer, or ATB is the place for those who love sports, life, family, community, and so much more. We are far from the run-of-the-mill 24/7 sports news websites. We not only bring you what’s happening in the world of sports in terms of trades and breaking news, but we also bring you the news that goes on behind the scenes, like big life moments, and so much more. So take a minute and read one of our articles, we promise you won't regret it.