Scott Shafer has coached at Alabama, Auburn, Michigan, where he was a defensive coordinator for a year, Ohio State and Florida State, but he’s never coached at Frank Howard Field at Clemson Memorial Stadium, or “Death Valley” as its known, the site of Syracuse’s 7 p.m. kickoff against the No. 21 Tigers (5-2, 4-1) on Saturday.

At capacity, the stadium holds 81,500 fans at and with nearly all of them likely to be cheering against the Orange (3-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) on Saturday, Shafer is adjusting the way SU prepares this week.

During practices, Syracuse will pump in music and crowd noise to simulate the hostile atmosphere awaiting the team on Saturday, Shafer said. But he added that SU, per usual, is working through its plays, one at a time and one sequence at a time.

But as much of a problem as the Clemson crowd may be — making it difficult for players to hear plays or snap counts — it’s also motivating, he said.

“It’s why the kids like to play at this level and to play in front of those crowds,” Shafer said. “So for us, going to Death Valley, I’ve never been there. So I’m looking forward to it. It’s obviously one of the great venues in college football and it’s always neat. it’s a place that I’ve always looked at and said ‘Man, I’d really like to get there someday and see what it’s like.’

“So it’ll be a great experience for our kids. We have to enjoy the moment and focus in on playing the game, one heartbeat at a time.”