It will be cold Saturday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyo.

It probably will be windy — making it a bitter cold.

The snowstorm that hit the past couple days is supposed to clear out for game day, but there’s snow on the ground.

Throw in an airplane ride, a strange city and a hostile crowd, and you’ve got all kinds of elements that could affect the Boise State football team when the No. 21 Broncos take on the Wyoming Cowboys.

That’s life on the road in college football — particularly for a program like well-traveled Boise State, which will play in five time zones this season.

“I prepare for the worst,” junior wide receiver Aaron Burks said. “Usually when I show up I’m actually surprised that it didn’t go wrong. Coach (Chris Petersen) kind of trained us that you can only mess yourself up.”

Petersen, who is 79-7 in seven seasons as a head coach, tries to prepare his team for whatever elements they might face. He has simulated crowd noise and humidity, practiced on grass and indoors (for the Kibbie Dome) and dunked footballs in buckets of water to prepare for rain.

This week, the team spent part of its time practicing outside. Even when the Broncos went inside to escape the rain, Petersen left the building chilly.

Saturday’s forecast calls for temperatures in the mid-30s, expected to drop throughout the game.

“It’ll be cold,” Petersen said. “We’ve got cold here, so that will be helpful.”

Said senior cornerback Jamar Taylor: “Our coaches do a good job of preparing us and making us mentally tough.”

SEVEN INTANGIBLES OF A ROAD GAME

ALTITUDE

This is the Broncos’ second trip this season to a high-elevation venue (New Mexico was the other). Wyoming touts its 7,220 feet of lung-sucking altitude, but Boise State coach Chris Petersen downplays it. “Altitude is not an issue,” he said. “It hasn’t ever been an issue for us.”

WIND

The Broncos run into wind as much at home as on the road. But Laramie is notorious for wind. In a 2006 visit, Boise State quarterback Jared Zabransky was 12-for-20 for 116 yards. “Wind is very hard,” Petersen said.

RAIN AND SNOW

The Broncos rarely see snow. Rain doesn’t bother teams like it used to because of the wide use of artificial turf. It’s supposed to be dry in Laramie, but there’s a good chance the Broncos will get wet on their next trip — at Hawaii. “Unless it’s really, really coming down, they can keep the balls fairly dry and not real heavy,” Petersen said.

HUMIDITY

This used to be kryptonite to the Broncos. They’ve learned to handle it better — and Petersen has started preparing for it by using heat and a wet field to create a sticky environment in the Caven-Williams Sports Complex. Even that doesn’t compare to the real thing. Some players struggled this year at Southern Miss. “A lot of times when you’re in the humidity, it’s coupled with the sun,” Petersen said. “That’s what really makes it tough. That one is a hard one because we just don’t live in it.” Senior left guard Joe Kellogg struggled through a 100-degree, humid game at Fresno State in 2009. “You start to feel like your calves are tightening up and you start to cramp,” he said.

CROWD

Perhaps Boise State’s two worst performances of the WAC era came in front of the largest crowd in program history — 92,746 at Georgia in 2005 — and the most comically small crowd — 14,630 at 70,000-seat Rice Stadium in 2001. It’s important, Petersen said, to give players an idea of what to expect. “Energy in a stadium can (affect the game) if you kind of misread the environment,” he said. “(A loud crowd) is hard, but it’s pretty good — it’s not going to be for a lack of energy. You’ve got to make sure your kids’ anxiety levels are down and are under control. That can make it tough.”

LONG TRIPS

The Broncos are accustomed to long airplane rides to places such as Hawaii, Georgia, Michigan and Mississippi. Petersen helps combat any issues — time changes, strange game times and tight muscles, among them — by leaving 48 hours before many of those far-flung games.

FOOD AND ACCOMMODATIONS

The Broncos are no different than other travelers — sometimes they just don’t like the places they end up. They no longer stay at hotels like the bug-infested joint they found in 2001 in Ruston, La. — the team’s standards are higher — but the food varies from region to region. “I love going on the road,” senior linebacker J.C. Percy said. “I think it’s fun. You get to see different stadiums, and I always enjoy that. But if we go to a hotel and the food’s not good, that’s kind of a bummer for us.”