With 61,202 fans packed into MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Saturday, the majority rooting for Penn State, it caused some communication breakdowns in Scott Shafer’s first game as Syracuse’s head coach.

The start to his tenure ended with a 23-17 loss in New York’s College Classic, a contest that was considered a home game for the Orange, but had a road feel with a sea of blue and white in the bleachers.

“It’s one of those deals where we have to continue to work crowd noise,” Shafer said on his Tuesday teleconference. “I’m sure Northwestern’s fans will be excited and loud, so we’re preparing for that.”

SU travels to Evanston, Ill., on Saturday to face the Wildcats at 6 p.m.

Shafer said he wasn’t nervous at all before his first game as a head coach, but there were still the usual hiccups to be expected from a first-year head coach. There was a boneheaded penalty or two and chaos on the field — Shafer worked exclusively up in the box as a coordinator in past seasons — was a bit of a shock for the new head coach.

These, though, are the kinks that can be fixed in the coming weeks. Syracuse is inexperienced all over the field, so these are the things that can be solved simply with repetitions.

“We just have to keep continuing to work on our operation mode,” Shafer said. “At times we got into a good flow, but other times it wasn’t as clean as we need it to be, so that will be an emphasis as we move forward.”