NU to face Vanderbilt in football home opener this weekend

Ryan Field will be open for business Saturday when the Northwestern football team hosts Vanderbilt under the lights in its 2012 home opener.

NU will enter the game with a 1-0 record after its last minute victory in the season opener against Syracuse. The Vanderbilt Commodores lost their season opener 17-13 to ninth ranked South Carolina.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:01 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network and on ESPN 1000.

In other Wildcat sports action, women's soccer continues its five game homestand this weekend at Lakeside Field, hosting Northern Illinois Friday at 7 p.m. and Yale Sunday at noon.

The men's soccer, field hockey and volleyball teams are all unbeaten on the year and look to stay that way as they face tests on the road this weekend. Men's soccer plays in DeKalb, Ill., at the NIU Adidas Invite. The field hockey team, which defeated two top-20 teams in California last weekend, plays at Duke Sunday. And volleyball heads to the Yale Classic.

The cross country team begins its 2012 campaign this weekend, running at the Huskie Open, also in DeKalb.