5 things to know about Sarah Fuller, who could play football for Vanderbilt on Saturday

UPDATE: Sarah Fuller played for Vanderbilt on Saturday against Missouri and made college football history.

Vanderbilt football needs a hand with kicking, and it turned to the Commodores women's soccer team for help. Specifically, the help of senior goalkeeper Sarah Fuller, who plans to dress for Vanderbilt's road game against Missouri on Saturday.

Only a few days ago, the Wylie, Texas native finished her 2020 soccer season before she received a call from her team's associate head coach, Ken Masuhr, asking about her experience kicking a football and if she could stick around to offer an assist to the football team, VUCommodores.com reported.

Fuller's soccer season ended last Sunday, and the next thing she knew, she was with the football team and practicing her kicking at the uprights.

“I made the first one and I kept making them,” she told VUCommodores.com. “It sounds really good to me. It’s different than a soccer ball, but it felt good.”

At the bottom of the SEC East standings, Vanderbilt is still searching for its first win of the season and enters the Missouri game with a 0-7 record and only two games left on its schedule currently. And it needs some kicking help with many of the Commodores specialists quarantining because of COVID-19 protocols.

So far this season, Vanderbilt has played two kickers. Juniors Wes Farley and Pierson Cooke are perfect this season with extra points. But Cooke is the only one to attempt a field goal, and he's just 3-for-7 so far.

Maybe it's Fuller's turn to try, and football coach Derek Mason said this week that "she’s an option for us."

Here are a few things to know about the soccer-turned-football player before she suits up and possibly plays Saturday against Missouri.

1. Sarah Fuller could be the first woman to play in a Power 5 football game

If Fuller plays against Missouri, she certainly won't be the first woman to play college football — though that's still a rarity. She'd be following the paths of several players, like Liz Heaston, the first woman to score in a college football game (Willamette, 1997); Tonya Butler, the first woman to kick a field goal in an NCAA game (West Alabama, 2003); and Katie Hnida, the first woman to score at the FBS level (New Mexico, 2003).

But should Fuller play Saturday, she'll be the first woman to play in not only an SEC game but also in a Power 5 game.

“I think it’s amazing and incredible. But I’m also trying to separate that because I know this is a job I need to do and I want to help the team out and I want to do the best that I can,” Fuller told VUCommodores.com. “Placing that historical aspect aside just helps me focus in on what I need to do. I don’t want to let them down in anyway.

“It’s an honor they called on me to be able to do this and help them out.”

2. Fuller is normally Vanderbilt's goalkeeper for the women's soccer team

Now a senior, Fuller played soccer for Vanderbilt for four years, but she wasn't a starter until this season. She made her first career start in goal against South Carolina in October and came away with six saves. She ultimately started in nine of the Commodores' 12 games this year.

She finished with a 7-2-0 record, 28 total saves and a 75.5 save percentage. And her 0.97 goals against average is the eighth-best in Vanderbilt history in a single season.

3. Fuller helped lead Vanderbilt to its first SEC title since 1994

The Commodores women's soccer team finished with an 8-4 record this season and claimed the SEC Tournament title last Sunday.

With Fuller in goal the entire time, the team beat Mississippi State, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Arkansas to win its first conference tournament championship in almost 20 years. Against top-seeded Arkansas in the title game, she made three saves after giving up an early goal to the Razorbacks.

4. Her football helmet has "Play Like a Girl" written on it

While it's unclear at this point if Vanderbilt football coach Derek Mason will call on Fuller to play Saturday, she'll be suited up.

And her helmet has has "Play Like a Girl" written on it — a reference to the eponymous nonprofit that encourages girls and young women to get involved in sports, as well as careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

5. "She's got a strong leg"

Of course, Mason likely wouldn't consider Fuller as a realistic option if she didn't have a strong leg, but here's what the Vanderbilt football coach had to say about hypothetically utilizing that option, per ESPN's Adam Rittenberg:

This week, Mason also told ESPN 102.5 The Game:

"For us, like any week in college football, you're sort of subject to testing, and then, based on testing, you've got to figure out option where you go.

"For us, talking to Sarah, she’s a champ, and no pun intended. Just coming off an SEC championship in soccer and then coming out and just looking at what we do and how we do it, and she’s a complete competitor. She’s an option for us, so right now, that’s where we sit."