Vanderbilt kicker Sarah Fuller was named an SEC Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday after becoming the first woman to participate in a Power 5 football game over the weekend.
Fuller, who was a goalkeeper on Vanderbilt’s conference championship soccer team, delivered the opening kickoff of the second half against Missouri.
It was a low squib kick designed by coaches to limit the possibility of a return. It traveled 30 yards and was downed at the 35-yard line.
Missouri went on to beat Vanderbilt 41-0.
Fuller became just the third woman to appear in an FBS game, joining Katie Hnida of New Mexico and April Goss of Kent State.
Vanderbilt called on Fuller to try out on Monday after many of the team’s specialist had to be quarantined due to COVID-19 testing.
Derek Mason, who was fired as Vanderbilt’s coach on Sunday, had said after the game that he would like for Fuller to continue kicking for the team if she wanted to.
On Sunday, Fuller was planning to attend that day’s meetings and said, “I’m sticking around until someone tells me to go.”
“I would love to learn more, so if those guys come out of quarantine, I would love to learn from them and their experience,” Fuller said. “I’ve been having a lot of fun doing this. It’s a challenge for me, but it’s something I know I can do. It’s applicable from doing a goal kick to a field goal kick, so I want to continue learning, and if those guys can help me, I’m all for it.”
Vanderbilt is scheduled to play at Georgia on Saturday.