Orange has chance vs. reeling Irish

Syracuse failed its biggest early season challenge, which in retrospect shouldn’t have been a big surprise. Louisville apparently is that good.

Now the Orange (22) have a chance to make some amends for that 6228 home loss to the rising Cardinals in early September when they meet Notre Dame (1-3) on Saturday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The game gives Syracuse an opportunity on a national stage in an NFL stadium to show that firstyear coach Dino Babers has the Orange pointed in the right direction. They’re coming off a 31-24 road win over UConn that snapped a two-game skid.

“It felt good,” said Orange wideout Amba EttaTawo, who had 12 catches for a school-record 270 yards and two touchdowns against the Huskies and leads the nation in receiving with 40 catches for 706 yards. “A lot of people can breathe now. We just have to keep building upon that.”

Playing at this particular neutral site might not be the place. Since former athletic director Daryl Gross decided to schedule a series of games against top-flight teams at MetLife Stadium instead of the Carrier Dome in an effort to spread the Syracuse brand in metropolitan New York City, the Orange have lost the first three games at the home of the Giants and Jets — to Southern Cal (42-29 in 2012), Penn State (23-17 in 2013), and Notre Dame (3115 two years ago).

This Notre Dame team was ranked 10th in the preseason and quickly fell flat.