ATHENS – Vanderbilt confirmed Tuesday that Sarah Fuller will be dressed out for the Commodores when they come to Sanford Stadium for Saturday’s game against the No. 8-ranked Georgia Bulldogs. And while hosting the first female place-kicker in the history of Power 5 football is certainly cool and exciting, there remains for Georgia a largely undiscussed reality.
What if they need to block her on a kick return?
That didn’t happen when Fuller kicked off just once in the Commodores’ 41-0 loss to Missouri last week in Columbia. On that historic kick, she was instructed to punch a line drive toward the Tigers’ right flank. She executed it perfectly, and Missouri fell on the ball at the 35-yard line.
The Bulldogs’ first hope is also that Vanderbilt kicks off only one time, either at the beginning of the game or the second half. The question, though, becomes what happens if they end up returning the kick this time.
“You know, once you’re between those white lines, I think it’s fair game,” Georgia senior linebacker Monty Rice said Tuesday. “If she’s trying to tackle Kearis (Jackson) on a kickoff (return), we’re going to have a problem. We’re going to block her just like we do Rodrigo (Blankenship) if he was over there. We’re not going to go overboard because she’s a girl; we’re just going to do what we’re coached to do because that’s what we’re coached to do.”
Georgia coach Kirby Smart said Tuesday that the prospect of having to engage a female player in contact hasn’t come up for discussion, and he’s not sure if it will.
“Probably not. I’ve never had to have that conversation before,” Smart said. “I’m not going to change and have the conversation now. But we don’t account for the kicker in our returns; I don’t think anybody in the country does. You assume if (your returner) gets to the kicker you’ve done a pretty good job in the return game. So, we don’t plan to have a conversation about it.”
Fuller is actually bigger than a lot of kickers, standing 6-feet-2. Her weight is unknown, but the 21-year-old senior from Wylie, Texas, is strong and athletic. She is also used to engaging in contact often as a goalkeeper for her reigning SEC champion soccer team.
“She plays a very physical sport, to be honest with you,” Smart said. “I’ve seen some pretty brutal collisions (in soccer) without a helmet and without gear on. So, I’m sure she can take care of herself when it comes to that. But that’s not something we really concern ourselves with because we don’t assign anybody to the kicker.”
Todd Fitch, Vanderbilt’s interim head coach, confirmed that Fuller will be on the travel roster for Georgia and also said that none of the kicking specialists that were out last week will be returning for Saturday’s game. But he also said there’s no guarantee that Fuller will be handling all the kicking duties for the Commodores. They have been auditioning other players in practice this week in an open competition for the job.
“She’ll be with us on the trip to Georgia and we’re going to put the best people out there,” he said. “If she’s our best option we’ll continue with her and we’ll do the best we can for the team.”
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