Sarah Fuller becomes first woman to score in Power Five college football game
Sarah Fuller (Photo by Missouri Athletics/Collegiate Images/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Sarah Fuller became the first woman to score in a Power Five conference football game by kicking an extra point for Vanderbilt on Saturday.
The goalkeeper for Vanderbilt’s Southeastern Conference women’s soccer champs didn’t get a chance on the Commodores’ first two drives against in-state rival Tennessee. But the Commodores drove late in the first quarter, running for a first down on fourth-and-1.
On the next play, Ken Seals threw an 18-yard pass to Cam Johnson for a touchdown. Fuller, listed second out of three available kickers on the depth chart, came out for the extra point, which tied the game at 7 with 1:50 left in the first quarter.
RELATED: Sarah Fuller becomes first woman to play in Power 5 college football game
The 6-foot-2 senior put the ball through the uprights and celebrated by pulling her first in before slapping high-fives with teammates. She ran off the field with a big smile with her family in the stands all with their arms up in the air.
An official gave Fuller the ball on the sideline.
Fuller made history as the first female to play in a Power Five conference game on Nov. 28 with a squib kick to open the second half. She has remained on the roster even as Vanderbilt’s other kickers came out of quarantine and rejoined the team.
No woman before Fuller had appeared in an SEC game or for any Power Five team. Liz Heaston became the first woman to score in college football with two extra points for Willamette of NAIA on Oct. 18, 1997.
Katie Hnida was the first woman to score at the Football Bowl Subdivision level with two extra points for New Mexico on Aug. 30, 2003.
April Goss was the second, with an extra point for Kent State in 2015. Tonya Butler was the first woman to kick a field goal in an NCAA game for Division II West Alabama on Sept. 13, 2003.