College Career
As one of the top defensive line recruits in the country, Fulton chose Illinois over Wisconsin, Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern University, Indiana, and more than 20 other top schools. He was recruited by Ron Turner and his staff. As a true freshman he played as a defensive end in eight games and started three, collecting six tackles, two quarterback hurries and one PBU. He recorded one solo tackle, two QBH and one PBU vs. Michigan. He also recorded tackles vs. Minnesota, Indiana, and Northwestern.
As a sophomore, Fulton played and started in the first seven games of the season before suffering a season-ending knee injury at Penn State. Before his injury he registered 13 total tackles, two tackles-for-loss, a sack, and three quarterback hurries. He had a career game at Indiana, recording three solo stops, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a blocked extra point attempt. He also recorded three quarterback hurries in the season opener against Rutgers and posted a sack against San Jose State.
For his junior year, he took a medical redshirt year to rehab his injured knee from the previous season.
In his 4th year, during spring practices in 2007, Fulton moved from defensive line to offensive line, specifically, from defensive end to offensive tackle. Fulton impressed the coaches so much that in his first time playing offensive tackle at the college level, he started at left tackle for all 13 games and was in on 997 offensive snaps. He recorded a team-leading 109 knockdowns, and helped pave the way for 260 rushing yards at No. 1 Ohio State, quadrupling the Buckeyes' average rushing yards allowed. At Minnesota, he led the way for 655 total yards, the third-best single-game total in school history. At Syracuse, he led the way for 508 total yards and 378 rushing yards, Illinois' most rushing yards since 1998. At Missouri, he protected for 316 passing yards, the best Illini aerial performance since Sept. 20, 2003, against Cal. Fulton finished the season with second-team All-Big Ten honors by both coaches and media, as well as, Rivals.com.
Fulton stayed for a 5th year and was part of an offensive line that has helped the Illini rank first in the Big Ten in total offense (448.3) and pass offense (274.5) and second in scoring offense (30.4) through 11 games. At Mizzou, he protected for 451 passing yards, the third-best passing total in Illinois history. Again, Fulton finished the season with second-team All-Big Ten honors by both coaches and media, as well as, Rivals.com. At Fulton’s senior banquet, he was honored with the Bruce Capel Award for displaying the most courage, dedication and accomplishment throughout the season. Immediately following his senior year, he was invited to the 2009 Under Amour Senior Bowl and played for the North team.
In December 2008, Fulton graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor's degree in sociology.
Read more about this topic: Xavier Fulton
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