Vanderbilt Names Sarah Fuller Kicker; Will Be 1st Woman to Play in Power 5

Sarah Fuller will make history Saturday when she becomes the first woman to play for a Power Five college football team.

Vanderbilt announced Friday that Fuller will serve as its place-kicker for tomorrow's game against Missouri:

On Wednesday, Commodores head coach Derek Mason told Nashville's 102.5 The Game (h/t ESPN's Alex Scarborough) that Fuller "is an option for us" with many of the team's specialists quarantined because of COVID-19 testing.

"She's got a strong leg," he added. "We'll see what that yields. ... Sarah's an option. She seems to be a pretty good option, so we'll figure out what that looks like on Saturday."

Fuller is in her senior year at Vanderbilt. She has spent four years playing on the soccer team as a goalkeeper and started nine of 12 games during the 2020 fall season, including all four games as the Commodores won the SEC tournament this month. The Texas native also received SEC academic honors in each of her first three years at the school.

While female college football players are uncommon, there have been a number of them through the years. Central Methodist University safety Toni Harris is believed to be the first female scholarship player in college football history, per CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd.

Katie Hnida was the first woman to score points in a college football game for the University of New Mexico in 2003. April Goss of Kent State became the second in 2015.

Fuller will look to help Vanderbilt get its first win of the season against Missouri at Faurot Field.