About 200 MTSU students returned Floyd Stadium to unfurl the giant Blue Zoo banner for the first time in two years, a signal that the campus athletics booster group will be back in force when the Blue Raiders take on Monmouth University on Sept. 4 to open the football season.

Head football coach Rick Stockstill and football players watched as Zoo President Drake Williams cued students from MTSU’s Scholars Academy and the Student Government Association to hold aloft the banner and cheer to the MTSU fight song.

Flanked by Blue Raider football players, MTSU Blue Zoo President Drake Williams prepares a ground of students in the stands to unfurl the Blue Zoo banner Thursday, Aug. 19, inside Floyd Stadium. (MTSU photo by Andrew Oppmann)

A group of MTSU students unfurl the giant Blue Zoo banner for the first time in two years on Thursday, Aug. 19, inside Floyd Stadium in preparation for the upcoming football season. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)

“I just want to thank you for what you guys do, coming to the games,” Stockstill told the students. “You guys make a difference. I hope you guys realize how important you are to us.”

Coach Rick Stockstill

The Zoo, revived as a student organization in 2019, brought out the banner when the football team scored in Floyd. The banner didn’t appear in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Membership in the Blue Zoo is free — all students have to do is sit in the student section at Blue Raider games. Students wishing to be more involved and informed about the Zoo are encouraged to register as a member by going to https://mtsu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/bluezoo.

A group of MTSU students unfurl the giant Blue Zoo banner for the first time in two years on Thursday, Aug. 19, inside Floyd Stadium in preparation for the upcoming football season. (MTSU screen capture)

Williams said the Zoo is eager to return to Floyd and fill the student section. “We are so excited to be back on campus… to be here and to fill Floyd, each and every game,” he said.

In 2020, Blue Zoo student leaders worked with the University to raise awareness about campus resources during the pandemic lockdown and contributed $1,000 to a fund to aid students who were unable to work because of campus or business closings.

— Andrew Oppmann (Andrew.Oppmann@mtsu.edu)

As Blue Raider football players look on, a group of MTSU students unfurl the giant Blue Zoo banner for the first time in two years on Thursday, Aug. 19, inside Floyd Stadium in preparation for the upcoming football season. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)